The Media’s Role in Past and Future U.S. Elections
My Politics
My political views aren’t the focus here. While I haven’t kept them a secret in previous posts, I doubt they matter to anyone reading this. I only bring up the fact that I have political leanings to acknowledge my bias regarding the candidates, but I’ll try my best to be fair.
The Media’s Role in Past Elections
In 2016, the media gave President Trump an incredible amount of free publicity. This is widely known by now, with estimates showing he received over $2 billion worth of free media coverage during that election cycle. I can understand why outlets felt compelled to report on his every move. After all, how could they justify not covering his mocking of a disabled reporter or his remarks about immigrants being “rapists” and “criminals” in his campaign launch speech? These are undeniably newsworthy events, and I imagine any journalist would feel neglectful if they didn’t cover them, along with the constant stream of controversies.
However, I think the major mistake was breaking these moments into bite-sized, viral segments. The media practically created a narrative for him—he only had to keep stirring up controversy. Trump could easily claim the coverage was unfair, missing context (whether it was or wasn’t), and that he and, by extension, his supporters were constantly under attack1. I get the sense he’s lost some of that sharpness since 2016, and I don’t remember watching any full-length speeches from him back then, but maybe the smarter choice would have been airing those speeches in full. Trump isn’t particularly engaging beyond short clips, and perhaps people would have seen him more as an old man, ranting about literally everything.
In 2020, the narrative was almost entirely driven by COVID-19. This painted Trump as lacking leadership and overshadowed his grievance-based messaging. Considering the first impeachment hearings happened in January 2020, I wonder whether his narrative would have gained more traction if not for the pandemic. While the media’s coverage of the 2020 election was solid, it’s hard to give them too much credit, since COVID-19 forced their hand.
What About 2024?
It’s still early, but there are signs the media is mishandling the 2024 election cycle. I can't help but wonder if they've over-corrected in some sense. The July 13 assassination attempt was barely in the news for a week, and that should be something that prompts introspection in all of us. Based on 100% anecdotal evidence, I've seen much more coverage about the word "weird" and couches than what very easily could've been a devastating act of political violence.
I don't want to complain about this. I really don't. The couch thing and how it was handled by the GOP and Mr. Vance is funny. And the "weird" thing cuts so perfectly. But we're three and a half years out from January 6th, and we just had a very narrow miss at an attempted assassination. I understand the shooter's motive, to the extent that he had one, doesn't lead to easy narratives. But we need someone smart, someone much smarter than me, to reflect on this and what it means for the world we're living in, and the world we're barreling towards. If some young men are so disaffected, socially unattached, and nihilistic that they try to assassinate the nearest powerful politician, albeit very rarely, it feels like we have a problem that deserves more reflection than three days of "both sides need to tone down the rhetoric, folks."
It’s tough to judge “the media” right now. I have a somewhat unusual Twitter mutual, Heidi Ganahl, a former GOP candidate for Colorado governor. We don’t agree on much besides our love for University of Colorado sports, but we had a respectful conversation once, so we’re mutuals. When I read through her Twitter feed, it feels like I’m in an alternate reality. The media landscape was already rough in 2016 and 2020, but now it’s so fractured that it’s hard to find any shared sense of reality.
I won’t go into detail about her timeline—it’s similar to countless other far-right feeds out there. What worries me is how Elon Musk has turned the platform into a massive disinformation machine. I’m not sure how to fight it, or even how anyone could, but it’s a real problem. God help us, no matter the outcome of the election.
This is a classic grifter move. Alex Jones is a master of this trick. By the media not centering the narrative on the horrific treatment and endless torment of the Sandy Hook families, he's been able to not (marginally) rehabilitate his image by claiming "I didn't shoot those kids!" Of course, nobody claims he did, but it's an effective defense to people who believe he just "discussed the controversy," and "reported what the experts told him." This is a much larger topic, but Elizabeth Williamson's excellent book Sandy Hook: An American Tragedy and HBO's powerful documentary The Truth vs. Alex Jones↩