Stories by Kathryn J. McGarr

Kathryn J. McGarr is an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison's School of Journalism and Mass Communication. She earned her Ph.D. in history from Princeton University and is the author of City of Newsmen: Public Lies and Professional Secrets in Cold War Washington (University of Chicago Press, 2022).

Black and white photo of Eric Sevareid, Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Murrow

OpinionOctober 23, 2023

Before Trump, before Agnew, Hate Mail Reveals Long-Simmering Hostility to Journalists

While contempt for news organizations is intense in the wake of Trump, archived hate mail to reporters shows that even in the 1950s—supposedly the height of public trust in journalism—some Americans always despised the press

Kathryn J. McGarr