Watch The Fourth Estate

The Fourth Estate is a fascinating documentary film series that premiered on SHOWTIME in 2018. The series explores the inner workings of The New York Times and its reporting during the Trump administration. The show features interviews with some of the top journalists and editors at The Times, including Dean Baquet, Elisabeth Bumiller, and Maggie Haberman.

The show is divided into four parts, each detailing different aspects of the Times' coverage of the Trump presidency. The first episode focuses on the first 100 days of the Trump administration, when the White House clashed with many news organizations, including The Times. The second episode documents how The Times fiercely covered the investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The third episode examines how The Times was forced to adapt to the Trump administration's hostile attitude towards the press, including the president's repeated attacks on the newspaper on Twitter. Finally, the fourth episode follows the Times’ coverage of the midterm elections in 2018.

The series provides insights into how the Times’ journalists were able to break major stories on Trump’s personal finances, his controversial travel bans, and many other issues during his presidency. The Fourth Estate also shows how The Times managed to navigate the ethical dilemmas of reporting on a president who constantly attacked the media, often labeling critical coverage as “fake news.”

The show is a brilliant behind-the-scenes look at how one of America's most renowned newspapers covered one of the most tumultuous periods in modern U.S. history. It provides viewers with a fascinating and sobering reminder of the critical value of a free press.

One of the most interesting aspects of the series is the access that director Liz Garbus was able to secure for her cameras. The Fourth Estate provides a unique opportunity to see how The Times’ journalists work behind the scenes, how they generate story ideas, how they conduct interviews, and how they produce high-quality journalism under immense pressure.

The series also captures the reactions of The Times’ staff to the Trump presidency. We see the intense debates that occur in the newsroom about whether The Times should be calling out Trump's lies, or whether it should be using more neutral language in its reporting. We see the toll that the constant attacks on the press take on journalists, and how a sense of mission keeps them going.

Overall, The Fourth Estate is a must-watch documentary for anyone interested in journalism, politics or media criticism. It provides a rare and insightful perspective on how one of the world's leading newspapers has navigated the challenges and obstacles of covering a president who holds the press in contempt. It’s engaging, informative, and offers an important reminder of the vital role that a free and independent press plays in our democracy.

The Fourth Estate is a series that ran for 1 seasons (4 episodes) between May 27, 2018 and on SHOWTIME