Government, Federal, U.S., Coverage of

The press has long been dubbed the “Fourth Estate” of U.S. government for the active role the media play in informing the electorate, but also in holding institutions and those of influence and power accountable to the people. In the spirit of watchdog journalism, news outlets are charged with keeping the federal government honest and transparent.

The ever-changing news landscape continues to evolve, bringing new challenges to legacy news outlets and introducing new digital platforms used by political elites to communicate their agendas and policies, but also by journalists as a means of information gathering and as a means of disseminating news. Nonetheless, coverage of the federal government continues to be shaped by mainstream news outlets with national influence: newspapers (such as The New York Times, ...