Matthew T. Lee is a lifelong Iowa resident and University of Dubuque graduate who follows local and national politics.

The American media encountered a strange new challenge in the summer of 2015: how to keep up with and hold accountable a public figure who lies at a breathtaking rate? How to fact check, how to cover, how to pierce through the disinformation? 

Most political reporters never figured that out. As time went on, their problem was compounded. That disingenuous public figure took over one of the two major U.S. political parties and became president—and he did so on the back of discrediting the the “fake news media.”

Fast forward to 2024. This man is once again running for president. The political party he usurped is even more under his sway (his daughter-in-law now co-chairs the Republican National Committee). And the media has apparently learned nothing in the ensuing nine years.