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Getty Journalists fear for their profession under Trump – and some, for their safety

As she left 1211 Avenue of the Americas building on Tuesday night, Wall Street Journal graphics editor Stephanie Stamm walked by the group of spectators gathered outside of Fox News’ studios.

"Upon leaving office (we share with Fox) I was already assaulted with two 'I'll grab you by the pussy' quotes,” Stamm tweeted. "Nope. Not kidding. Crying on 6th avenue. Hope everyone is super happy."

As the news further sank in on Wednesday that yes, Donald Trump is the next president, many who work in the media were worried.

Some, like Stamm, were fearing for their own personal safety. After more than a year of attending Trump rallies where reporters were jeered and yelled at by thousands in the crowd, where there was need of police or the Secret Service to escort them to their cars after rallies, they feared the threats they also regularly receive over social media and email — pictures of themselves on the bodies of holocaust victims, pictures of themselves with bullet holes in their heads — would come to fruition.

"I am a gay Jewish journalist who loathes Trump with a very public passion. Every week, I receive the emails, the tweets, the private messages: Kike. Faggot. Fucking Jew,” wrote Slate reporter Mark Joseph Stern. "All of us will soon get what we deserve, they tell me. They have guns. They have a plan."

"Heart-breaking: A colleague of mine who is a Muslim just tapped my shoulder. 'I'm leaving.' The newsroom? I asked... 'No. the country,'” tweeted The Week’s Marc Ambinder.

To those who are not worried that they will be attacked literally for being journalists — “I am not scared for my physical safety,” one reporter for a major newspaper told POLITICO; “people are hyperventilating" — there is still the perceived existential threat the Trump win seems to them to pose to their profession. A network embed, a reporter for a major magazine and two reporters for major newspapers all said they worried about the future of press freedom and access.

"After Trump, why would any future candidate be generous with press access?” said one network embed who covered Trump.

He pointed to the fact that unlike any other candidate in recent history, Trump never had a typical protective press pool. He did not allow the press to travel with him on his plane, which meant they were not in his motorcade and often, because of travel snafus, were left behind. He’s banned outlets for months at a time and called out specific reporters he didn’t like. And despite the years of tradition that the White House allows journalists into the building, has them travel with the president in a protective pool and that the press secretary holds a daily briefing, none of that is guaranteed in any sort of law. It is just tradition, and not many believe a Trump White House will keep that going.

"Candidates want to win. And now the precedent has been set that you don’t need to give access to press to win," the embed continued. "Jeb [Bush] was the most generous with access to press. Taking questions multiple times a day. How did that work out?"

Last month the White House Correspondents Association sent letters to both campaigns imploring them to keep White House press access where it stands currently. A Clinton official privately said at the time that they would likely continue normal practices. The Trump campaign never responded to the letter or POLITICO’s questions about it prior to the election.

The second reporter for a different major newspaper covering Trump said there has been no indication from the Trump staff that press relations with a Trump White House would be anything like the tradition.

"The operating theory among those of us who have covered him is a Trump White House will be no different than a Trump campaign,” the reporter said.

We’ve reached out to Trump’s spokespeople for comment on White House press access now that Trump will be president, and will update here accordingly.