TheWrap founder, CEO and editor-in-chief Sharon Waxman urged young journalists that “being essential” is more important than ever in President Donald Trump’s second term during a conversation at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism on Tuesday.
What started as a Post-It note motto that hung on her desktop monitor for decades has become a mantra for the journalist-turned-entrepreneur.
“It’s just a reminder every day that nobody’s going to hand it to you, and you have to make yourself relevant to your reader every day,” she told the audience.
Student moderators Alyssa Valdez and Maria Laguna asked the veteran journalist how to best sift through Trump’s barrage of executive orders and report what’s essential for readers.
“Asserting the independence of media is essential,” Waxman replied. “Writing every day about the erosion of our freedoms and the erosion of our Constitution is essential.”
Before starting TheWrap in 2009, Waxman was the Hollywood correspondent for the New York Times. Before that she served as a foreign correspondent in the Middle East, and as a Style writer for The Washington Post. She wrote “Rebels on the Backlot” about the young directors who took the 1990s by storm. TheWrap founder said that without building a network of sources and mentors, she would never have successfully founded her own digital news publication.
She advised the audience of eager college students to wait on their big entrepreneurial venture.
“When you’re in your twenties, you don’t know anything. You don’t know sh-t people,” she quipped. “Don’t waste your time starting a business. What you will bring to the table is 20 years of hard work and knowledge and a network of people who will help you.”
Student moderators also asked Waxman about navigating a career in journalism during Trump 2.0.
“Because there isn’t centralized media in this country – thank God – I think it will be very hard for Trump to control the message,” she said. “We just have to keep paying attention. We have to stick with our principles of asking both sides, verifying facts. You might cite someone, but if they’re lying, say they’re lying.”
Waxman also referenced the billionaire ownership of legacy media companies – Jeff Bezos and The Washington Post and Patrick Soon-Shiong and the Los Angeles Times – expressing her disappointment that “conglomerate owners” have been ready to make a deal with the president.
“Mollifying a bully doesn’t really work,” she said.
When asked if her own coverage plan would change under the new administration, Waxman asserted it would not – “We’re just going to keep doing what we do.”
“We’re not doomed. We’re just in a moment where we all really need to pay attention and lean in and check your principles,” she told the college students. “And be prepared to make decisions based on that because you’re probably going to be called upon to do so.”
TheWrap established a fellowship with USC Annenberg in 2024 in celebration of its 15th anniversary. The independent entertainment trade plans to continue this partnership this spring.
