Control the information and you control the people. Information is a powerful social tool, see the Reformation and resistance to teaching the public to read, the totally universal application of controlled media worldwide with extreme examples in USSR and North Korea, Operation Mockingbird in the US. see too, CNN agreeing to be stifled in Iraq as a condition of being allowed to report from there. The press is a corrupt but useful institution.
-- He understand that journalism was "not" a sacred trust. It was a powerful propaganda platform that could make or break him. --
Except not "was." It still is.
The reason that "trustworthy" is claimed, and made to appear to have teeth by firing the likes of Rather, is that the power to control is lost when the audience loses trust.
I think society is stronger when the people are forced to engage their own minds, and to not trust the political institutions like the government and the press. The press will ALWAYS be political. it never was objective, and it is not supposed to be objective. The whole construct of "we have a sacred duty to you" is a means of getting power over the gullible.
When the moderator interrupted Mr. Trump 41 times, it’s the same as kicking him. You rattle a person and get them off their guard. You kick them with words. It’s a destructive tactic, very low down method of cheap control. Trump, fortunately, kept his cool. Because he’s a gentleman at heart. He doesn’t need better prep to teach him how to go on the attack. He just needs to keep on message and emphasize how he’s going to improve our economy and make us safe.