One thing (of many) I think the press did a bad job of explaining these past four years was why covering Trump was so difficult. Our inability to articulate it made many people think the press just disliked his policies or personality. And I'm sure that was the case for some. 1/

But for everyone covering Trump, what made it tough was the unpredictability. That meant that the reporters were at defcon 1 watch ALL THE TIME. Normally, we have warning when news is coming. Or at least a belief that it'll come during reasonable hours. 2/

Being on guard like that all the time was exhausting. Good reporters spend every minute worrying they're about to get beat. But this was that feeling on steroids. Journalists worried about going on vacation or eating dinner or taking a shower would make them miss something. 3/

And yes, someone is reading this thinking, "waa waa, this is your job." And yes, I consider it an honor to have covered the White House. But it made for a grueling four years. And many in the public confused our exhaustion with a rabid dislike of Trump. 4/

Research has revealed that press bias is often less about partisanship and more about access. Trump made it as hard as he could for us to do our jobs. In turn that made the press coverage more unflattering. Which in turn fed his narrative that we didn't cover him fairly. 5/

It won't be long until we hear from Trump allies or Biden critics something along the lines of, "If Trump had done this, the press would have FREAKED out." But covering these two White Houses will be so fundamentally different, it will be impossible to compare fairly. 6/

Even things as simple as policy rollouts. How long until someone says, "You didn't cover Trump EOs like this!" Well, Trump tried to sign EOs before they were written. Biden has lengthy policy explainers. It will just never be the same.7/

Likewise, there will be things that Biden does that come under scrutiny and we question that someone will say, "This doesn't compare to all the things Trump did!" Sure, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't ask tough questions. He's not free of accountability. 8/

All of this is to say, we should all still keep doing our job of holding elected officials accountable. Its okay to acknowledge that the times have changed. And we should all stay away from empty comparisons. 9/