Jenna Johnson, an editor at The Atlantic, to return home to discuss our democracy at Flatwater Forum

Growing up in Omaha, Jenna Johnson was introduced to journalism by her parents, both of whom were journalists. After gaining a formal journalism education from UNL in 2007, she landed an internship with The Washington Post that quickly became an 18-year career.

At the Post, she covered a range of topics including crime and higher education, but national politics soon became her beat. As the lead journalist on Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, she did extensive reporting on his MAGA movement and the deepening political and cultural divide in the U.S. She later reported on the 2020 election. In 2022, she became deputy democracy editor at the Post and was tapped to lead the newly formed immigration and border security team in 2025.

Now, she works as a senior editor at The Atlantic, where she edits stories about the White House and immigration.

Coming from a journalism family with Nebraska roots, did you always know you wanted to follow in their footsteps?

Jenna Johnson: I grew up around journalism. I grew up in newsrooms and really admire journalists and the work they do. To me, it always was described as, and I always saw it as, a public service. Just like we have firefighters and police officers and teachers, we also have journalists who are recording for history.

At some point in college, I toyed with the idea of maybe going to law school instead or doing something different. But what really confirmed it for me was doing journalism, working at the Daily Nebraskan (and) doing internships at the Norfolk Daily News and the Des Moines Register and the Omaha World Herald. It’s just the best job in the world.

How did your college experience shape you into the journalist you are today?

JJ: I worked full time at the Daily Nebraskan all four years, and you just learn by doing. I made so many mortifying mistakes when I was there, but I learned from them.

My first major beat at the Daily Nebraskan … was covering student government. I covered it as if it were the U.S. Congress. It’s funny how some of the dynamics that were at play then continue to be at play. Politics is politics, whether it’s your college campus or at the state level or at the federal level.

What has your experience been like at The Washington Post and now The Atlantic?

JJ: After I graduated, I got an internship at The Washington Post, and then never left.

When I actually got the phone call saying I had gotten the internship, my first reaction was that someone was prank calling me because there had been no interview. I hadn’t heard back from them, and all of a sudden, I’m getting an offer. It was really unreal and very, very exciting. I’ve been forever grateful for how that really set my career on the track that it’s on now.

Last May, I left The Washington Post and came to The Atlantic … The Atlantic is a magical place to do journalism. It’s really exciting to be working with some of the best writers and reporters in the nation and figuring out the most important stories to tell in this moment, and telling them with deep, deep reporting that other people don’t have.

What story or coverage are you most proud of throughout your career? 

JJ: It’s been a lot, and I’m proud of it all.

I would say my early work covering the Trump campaign back in 2015. I was one of the first early reporters on that campaign. I had been covering another candidate who dropped out, and my boss was like, ‘Well, why don’t you just keep an eye on Trump for a little bit?’ I did a lot of stories about how, while he was such a joke to everyone inside the Beltway, his message was really resonating with crowds. I did a lot of stories just exploring why that was and going to those rallies and talking to people. I think during that first campaign, I went to hundreds and hundreds of rallies and talked to thousands and thousands of people and did my best to try to document what was happening in that moment.

Occasionally, I’ll come across clips from those times, and it really set the groundwork for what we continue to see happening in our country today.

What about this work gets you up in the morning? 

JJ: It’s just a great honor to be able to come to work each day and play a role in documenting this chapter in history. Asking questions about it and finding those stories that the administration, no matter who’s in office, doesn’t want people to know or is embarrassed about.

Each day, my goal is to try to help our readers understand what’s actually going on and why.

What has challenged you the most as a journalist?

JJ: The most challenging part today is that a lot of people don’t trust journalists, and I even saw that over the course of the years I was reporting. Early on, people would be so excited that a journalist wanted to talk to them, and I think that’s still, for the most part, the case. But there are a lot of people who don’t want to talk to journalists anymore.

If we can win the trust of readers to tell them what’s going on in their own communities so that they can see coverage that matches or reflects their experience, they’re going to trust us more on the national stories that might be a bit more removed from their lives.

Who has influenced you the most in your life and career?

JJ: My parents. I grew up having a very heavy editor at home with a red pen. It’s prepared me for years of heavy editing and also for giving heavy edits with compassion and empathy. My parents, they didn’t just teach me to love writing and news, but to really see the mission in it and to appreciate the mission in it. My dad, he’s an editor at the Cedar Rapids Gazette, and whenever I think I’m super busy, I just call him.

How does it feel having grown up in newsrooms and now being the one sharing the news?

JJ: To me, journalists were just fascinating creatures, and I looked up to so many of them.

(In) journalism, maybe more so than any other profession, you’re coached along, and you learn as you go. You learn from the people around you. So, I also try my best to try to pay that forward to the next generation coming behind me, too.

What do you think is the importance of journalism, especially today? Where do you see the field in 10 years?

JJ: We’ve seen journalism change a lot in the last 10 years. We’ve seen journalism change a lot in the last year. I firmly believe society will always need journalists. Maybe we’re delivering that news in TikTok videos. Maybe we’re doing it in magazine pieces. Maybe we’re writing it on Substack. But a healthy democracy needs journalists who ask questions.

The platforms might be different, the levels of support might be different, the challenges that they face from the government might be different, but I firmly believe that journalism is vital to our democracy, and there will always be a need for that.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

JJ: I’ve lived away from Nebraska for quite a while, but it remains a huge part of who I am, and I care very much about the state. I’m so thrilled to be invited to FlatFest.