Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Jon Alsop, 1/20/25

Headline: “The Big Chill”

Subhead:  “The press anticipates Trump’s imminent return to office.”

“. . .Trump announced, in a social media post on Friday, that his inauguration will be moved indoors. It will now take place in the Capitol Rotunda instead. ‘This will be a very beautiful experience for all,’ Trump pledged, “especially for the large TV audience!” Nonetheless, Politico’s DC Playbook newsletter declared ‘the media’ a ‘loser’ of the switch. ‘No formal plans have yet been announced, but it’s hard to see anything more than a small portion of the credentialed media being allowed in the room to personally witness the oath of office,’ the outlet wrote on Saturday; plus, ‘freezing your butt off at a presidential inauguration is a rite of passage for many junior Washington reporters.’ (We will, at least, be spared the tedious litigation of how many people showed up. Not that we’re necessarily being spared Sean Spicer.)

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/trump_inauguration_journalism_media_chilling_effect.php