Robert Mueller’s finding that the Trump campaign did not conspire with Russia during the 2016 election was good news for Donald Trump in more ways than one.

Not only did news of Mueller’s report – for the time being, at least – lift the cloud of criminality from the president. It also provided ammunition for Trump to target one of his favorite adversaries: the media.

The Washington Post reported that Trump, said to be buoyant despite Mueller’s less-than-flattering verdict that he did “not exonerate” the president on the question of obstruction of justice, planned to “call for organizations to fire members of the media and former government officials who he believes made false accusations about him”.

CNN’s Jim Acosta had heard similar. Trump and his allies planned to “slam and shame the media”, Acosta said, something the president has done consistently since he was elected, particularly concerning Acosta himself.

Quick Guide Who was convicted or charged by the Mueller investigation? Show Michael Cohen, confidant and adviser to Donald Trump Pleaded guilty to bank fraud, tax fraud and campaign finance violations. Separately pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about a plan to build a Trump tower in Moscow. Sentenced to 36 months in prison. Paul Manafort, Trump campaign chairman Pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the US and conspiring to obstruct justice. Sentenced to seven and half years in prison. Alexander van der Zwaan, Dutch lawyer who worked with Manafort Pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. Sentenced to 30 days in prison, fined $20,000, has since been deported. George Papadopoulos, foreign policy adviser to Trump 2016 campaign Pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about the timing of meetings with alleged go-betweens for Russia. Sentenced to 14 days in prison, 200 hours community service, fined $9,500. Richard Pinedo, online fraudster Pleaded guilty to identity fraud. Sentenced to six months in prison and six months home detention. Michael Flynn, National security adviser to President Trump Pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about contacts with Russia during the presidential transition in 2016. Awaiting sentence. Rick Gates, Manafort business partner and Trump campaign official Pleaded guilty to conspiring against the US and lying to the FBI and admitted helping Manafort doctor financial statements, hide sources of foreign income, mislead banks to get loans and cheat on his US taxes. Awaiting sentence. Roger Stone, longtime Trump associate Charged with obstruction, witness tampering and making false statements. Trial due to start 5 November. 13 Russian nationals and 3 entities, social media trolls Charged with using fake social media accounts to influence the 2016 election, but unlikely to ever come to the US to stand trial. 12 Russian military intelligence officers, hackers A dozen named members of the Russian military intelligence unit GRU charged with hacking John Podesta. There is no prospect of them being brought to justice. Konstantin Kilimnik, ran Kyiv office of a Manafort company Charged with obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Not in custody and has not answered the charges. Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty Images North America

Retribution was indeed swift. Donald Trump Jr lamented “more than two years of non-stop conspiracy theories from CNN, MSNBC, BuzzFeed and the rest of the mainstream media” and added: “It’s my hope that honest journalists within the media have the courage to hold these now fully debunked truthers accountable and treat them with the scorn and ridicule that they so deserve.”

Sean Hannity, a Fox News host in frequent contact with the president, was quick to assist. He issued a series of ominous warnings, variously concerning conspiracy theories, lies and attempts to rig elections.

“CNN, MSNBC, and the mainstream media have lied to the the [sic] American [sic] for [two] plus years,” Hannity said in a tweet. “Now they will be held accountable.” Another post took a cavalier approach to punctuation: “MSNBC CONSPIRACY NETWORK LIARS FAKE NEWS CNN LIARS NY TIMES WAPO LIARS.”

Fox News followed Hannity’s lead. On Monday Fox and Friends, the morning show Trump is known to ingest, declared a “mainstream media meltdown”.

On the left, many were prompted to navel-gaze and hand-wring. Others jumped straight to name calling.

The Rolling Stone writer Matt Taibbi reckoned Mueller not filing fresh charges was “a death-blow for the reputation of the American news media”.

“The press has now handed Trump the mother of campaign issues heading into 2020,” Taibbi wrote. “Nothing Trump is accused of from now on by the press will be believed by huge chunks of the population.”

Glenn Greenwald of The Intercept, a long-time Russian investigation skeptic, thundered: “If you’re an MSNBC viewer – or reader of liberal sites on the internet – you were fed a steady stream of conspiratorial bullshit that completely warped your view of the world. All while they purposely excluded anyone who questioned their fraud [and] profited off your fears.”

Greenwald was particularly upset with the MSNBC host Rachel Maddow, who he said “went on the air for [two] straight years [and] fed millions of people conspiratorial garbage [and] benefited greatly”.

Amid fresh backlash against the media, others argued the press had not been aggressive enough. Photograph: Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock

There were also plenty of calls for cooler heads. A special counsel investigating a sitting president for potentially colluding with a foreign adversary to win an election is a big story, some pointed out. And many journalists remained bullish about their reporting, not least the New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet.

“On Russia interference, we and others wrote extensively about Russia’s attempt to influence the election, both through hacking and direct approaches by Russians to people around candidate Trump,” Baquet told the Washington Post.

“Those stories were true. And nothing has happened to call into question the reporting about Donald Trump’s financial history, or the use of his charity, or any of the other fine investigative reporting over the past three years.”

The Post’s media critic, Margaret Sullivan, echoed Baquet. Criticism of journalists covering Trump and alleged Russia ties was “largely misguided”, she wrote, pointing to reporting on the proposed Trump Tower in Moscow, on Michael Flynn’s dalliance with the Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, and on Trump’s craven approach to Vladimir Putin in Helsinki as instances in which the media had done its job.

Another problem for those seeking to demonize the media will be that Mueller did expose plenty of criminal conduct. The special counsel filed 199 charges against 34 people and three companies. Trump’s circle was far from squeaky clean.

It all left some to wonder if, contrary to the narrative Trump and his allies plan to weave, news organizations actually might have done more.

“Contra a lot of commentary,” said Ryan Lizza of Esquire, “given the issues, stakes, and seriousness with which special counsel treated all of this, the media’s coverage of Russia-Trump connection and possible obstruction over the last two years was somewhere between about right and not quite aggressive enough.”