{"id":1959853,"date":"2023-06-28T20:25:03","date_gmt":"2023-06-29T00:25:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/analysis-trump-other-politicos-fight-for-attention-in-changing-media-landscape\/"},"modified":"2023-06-28T20:28:06","modified_gmt":"2023-06-29T00:28:06","slug":"analysis-trump-other-politicos-fight-for-attention-in-changing-media-landscape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/analysis-trump-other-politicos-fight-for-attention-in-changing-media-landscape\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump and other politicians vie for attention in evolving media landscape."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fanalysis-trump-other-politicos-fight-for-attention-in-changing-media-landscape%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1959853&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"post_content\">\n<div class=\"aplayer_app\" data-source=\"https:\/\/vs1.youmaker.com\/assets\/2023\/0629\/2f4813dd-bc77-427f-8d63-6ffd708685ed\/audio.mp3?length=11270349&#038;duration=939\"><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p><em>News Analysis<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Wild West of Media: Shakeup at Fox News and CNN Leaves Politicians and Viewers Guessing<\/h2>\n<p>Big-name politicians\u2014such as former President Donald Trump, President Joe Biden, and their rivals\u2014are jockeying for positions amid a media landscape that looks a lot like the Wild West lately.<\/p>\n<p>High-profile shakeups have recently hit two major networks, Fox News and CNN, leaving candidates and viewers guessing the political direction each might take next.<\/p>\n<p>After firing conservative megastar host Tucker Carlson two months ago, Fox has seen its primetime audience shrink by one-third, Deadline.com <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/2023\/06\/fox-news-ratings-june-msnbc-1235425509\/\">reported<\/a> on June 27.<\/p>\n<p>Trump, once aligned closely with Fox, criticized the network as being \u201cvery prejudiced\u201d against him in a June 26 interview with Newsmax.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, in recent months, Fox\u2019s left-leaning counterpart, CNN, fired longtime on-air personalities Don Lemon and Brian Stelter. Then, the network and Trump stunned observers by temporarily declaring a truce in their longstanding war over mutual accusations of spreading false information.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5259274\" style=\"width: 1707px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/05\/11\/id5259274-Kaitlan-Collins-and-Trump-1200x672.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a><br \/>\n  <\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/in-townhall-trump-is-adamant-about-2020-election-january-6-protest_5257214.html\">A May 10 town hall forum<\/a> with Trump, his first appearance on CNN since his successful presidential run in 2015-16, drew more than 3 million viewers. The New Hampshire forum was the first major televised event of the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump\u2019s third run for the presidency.<\/p>\n<p>For Trump, it meant free publicity. For CNN, it was TV-ratings gold. But the event proved to be kryptonite for the network\u2019s CEO, Chris Licht. CNN fired him <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/cnn-ceo-chris-licht-is-out-just-weeks-after-trump-town-hall_5318003.html\">shortly thereafter<\/a>. He had been in charge only a year and had tried to steer the network toward more neutral news reporting.<\/p>\n<p>These surprising shifts at Fox and CNN come while virtually all TV stations as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/analysis-trump-other-politicos-fight-for-attention-in-changing-media-landscape\/\" title=\"Trump and other politicians vie for attention in evolving media landscape.\">legacy media outlets continue scrambling<\/a> to snare attention from distracted and disengaged Americans.<\/p>\n<h2>\u2018Narrowcasting\u2019 Supplants Broadcasting<\/h2>\n<p>At the same time, the number of alternative information sources has mushroomed. There are now more than <a href=\"https:\/\/explodingtopics.com\/blog\/number-of-podcasts\">3 million active podcasts<\/a>, for example.<\/p>\n<p>Steve Bannon, a longtime Trump ally and host of the popular <a href=\"https:\/\/warroom.org\/\">\u201cWar Room\u201d podcast<\/a> since 2019, predicts that only podcasts that provide \u201cdirect value\u201d and \u201cdon\u2019t waste people\u2019s time\u201d will survive, he says. Podcasters must provide rich content \u201cevery minute of every day, and that makes it insanely competitive,\u201d he told The Epoch Times.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5105847\" style=\"width: 2477px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/03\/07\/Stephanie-Liu-with-Steve-Bannon-1200x783.jpeg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a><br \/>\n  <\/figure>\n<p>As the American electorate pays less attention to traditional news outlets, politicians have been forced to shift from broadcasting to \u201cnarrowcasting,\u201d says Sean Evans, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-look-back-on-court-packing-attempts-in-us-history\/\" title=\"A Look Back On \u2018Court Packing\u2019 Attempts in US History\">political science professor<\/a> at Union University in Tennessee.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEveryone\u2019s trying to find a niche market,\u201d he told The Epoch Times. And politicians are experimenting with how to get the most benefit from their efforts.<\/p>\n<h2>Political Junkies Rare<\/h2>\n<p>Decades ago, when Evans was growing up, he could choose to watch shows on one of three TV networks: ABC, NBC, or CBS.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow, we have hundreds of choices; not just on TV channels but streaming, video games, radio, podcasts, and everything else,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, the problem every [political] campaign continues to face is: \u2018How do I reach voters?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Although \u201cthe most politically interested are the ones who are paying attention to politics,\u201d political junkies make up a small percentage of the electorate, Evans said.<\/p>\n<p>Only about 15 percent of Americans pay close attention to politics, researchers at Stony Brook University <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stonybrook.edu\/experts\/profile\/john-ryan\">reported<\/a> three years ago. However, the share of hyper-attuned Americans increases when major events happen, The Knight Foundation has <a href=\"https:\/\/knightfoundation.org\/articles\/americans-attention-to-national-news-lowest-in-four-years\/\">noted<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In March 2020, 56 percent of Americans closely monitored national news as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, the foundation reported last year.<\/p>\n<p>About 52 percent paid \u201ca great deal of attention to national news\u201d in November 2020, according to Knight, as Trump battled unsuccessfully to remain president.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5340057\" style=\"width: 6664px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/06\/17\/id5340057-Joe-Biden_Philly-1200x800.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a><br \/>\n  <\/figure>\n<p>Trump, who has never conceded to Biden, so far is the clear frontrunner to become the Republican Party\u2019s presidential nominee; likewise, Biden is seeking reelection and is the presumed nominee for the Democrats.<\/p>\n<p>Both are entangled in major controversies: Trump\u2019s criminal indictments and Biden\u2019s alleged influence-peddling scandals. As a result, the two leading candidates\u2019 challengers face an even harder time getting voters to notice them, political commentator Dick Morris <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dickmorris.com\/why-trumps-opponents-are-frozen\/\">pointed out<\/a> last week.<\/p>\n<p>Under normal circumstances, political news tends to be a tough sell at this time of year, says Susan MacManus, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/in-depth-trump-desantis-and-their-surrogates-at-war-on-social-media\/\" title=\"IN-DEPTH: Trump, DeSantis and Their Surrogates at War on Social Media\">political science professor emerita<\/a> at the University of South Florida.<\/p>\n<p>Summer activities and vacations are filling people\u2019s calendars. \u201cThis is the hardest time in politics to get someone\u2019s attention,\u201d she told The Epoch Times, \u201cbecause people just have so much else going on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In addition, MacManus senses \u201ca weariness\u201d in much of the U.S. electorate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot of the average voters are not tuned into this \u2018media morass,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cThey just don\u2019t want to hear a thing about any of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Sophistication Needed<\/h2>\n<p>The hurdles that candidates face now are even higher than they were in 2020, MacManus said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe proliferation of media has made it much more difficult to reach very small slices of the electorate,\u201d she said. \u201cIt requires a great deal of money to be spent and time spent on micro-targeting; you cannot reach the same people with the same message or means of communication anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another complication: while older voters may use platforms such as Facebook, younger ones are more likely to be found on platforms such as Snapchat or Instagram. So, to be effective, campaigns must calibrate their messages to connect with those different audiences on the various platforms, MacManus said.<\/p>\n<p>Thus, she said, their communication needs to become more sophisticated.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4970014\" style=\"width: 1280px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/01\/08\/social-media-logos-1200x675.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a><br \/>\n  <\/figure>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019ve got to split your appeal into various little slices,\u201d she said. Those can include messages tailored to certain demographics, ideologies, gender, family situation, economic situation, or political affiliation, for example.<\/p>\n<p>Trying to figure out how to best target those slivers of the audience is constantly shifting, MacManus said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe biggest emphasis right now has to be on people who can understand this microtargeting and the communication of a decent message to the right people,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s just really a lot of stress on campaigns right now to figure out who\u2019s watching, listening, and reading.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Hyper-Specialized Channels Coming<\/h2>\n<p>Bannon said a void has been created in conservative media in particular. Fox News \u201ccollapsed\u201d after it fired Carlson and Newsmax is \u201cnot going all-in\u201d for the Trump \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d (MAGA) movement, he said.<\/p>\n<p>Fox and Newsmax have shied away from exploring controversies over the COVID-19 vaccines and allegations over \u201cthe stealing of the 2020 election, which are both issues that are central to the MAGA movement,\u201d Bannon said.<\/p>\n<p>The vacuum has \u201callowed a basic explosion of alternative media,\u201d he said, \u201cand you\u2019re seeing these new sites and new groups set up every day.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2932578\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2019\/05\/22\/maga-hat.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a><br \/>\n  <\/figure>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re going to start seeing tons of alternative media, I think, come up from the right, the MAGA right. There\u2019s a huge appetite for it,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I just think it\u2019s going to expand. I think it\u2019s going to give people tons of alternatives.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He foresees an increasing array of hyper-specialized media sources catering to \u201cthe MAGA right.\u201d They each may focus on a single topic or a cluster of related ones, Bannon said, such as economics and finance, national security, and foreign affairs, \u201cwoke\u201d corporate culture, and the \u201cinvasion of the southern border.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019ll see more specialties than just \u2018generalists,\u2019 and I think you\u2019ll see a lot less whining,\u201d Bannon said. \u201cConservative ink is way too whiny about about the mainstream media not covering things properly. I think people understand the media is a big part\u2014if not the single biggest part\u2014of the problem, and I think you\u2019ll see alternative media that really deals in issues, facts, investigative reporting.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable<\/h2>\n<p>One thing is sure as the landscape evolves, MacManus said: \u201cAnymore, the same old, same old doesn\u2019t work; you\u2019ve got to go to some of the unconventional media that you\u2019re less familiar with.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When candidates take a somewhat unexpected approach, \u201cthat, in and of itself, generates coverage,\u201d MacManus said.<\/p>\n<p>Clearly, the candidates have been experimenting\u2014Trump, by making temporary amends with his sworn enemy, CNN; and his GOP challenger, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, by using Twitter as a campaign launchpad.<\/p>\n<p>While some people equated Trump\u2019s CNN appearance with his walking into a lion\u2019s den, Evans, the Tennessee professor, saw it as an intelligent move.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo matter what happened,\u201d Trump supporters were \u201cgoing to see him as being in the right,\u201d Evans said, and Trump\u2019s critics were going to remain critical of him, as they bashed the network for giving him a platform from which he could spew \u201clies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo, he got two weeks\u2019 worth of free media coverage like that,\u201d Evans said. \u201cEveryone was talking about Trump, and that\u2019s what Trump wants.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While the town hall story was dominating news cycles, Trump enjoyed \u201ca better chance of reaching more people, or of more people actually hearing about him\u201d rather than about his competitors, Evans said.<\/p>\n<p>The less people hear about Trump\u2019s opponents, \u201cthe more likely he is to win,\u201d he said, \u201cbecause people are more likely to vote for someone they recognize than for someone they don\u2019t recognize.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Minds Made Up<\/h2>\n<p>Still, there could be drawbacks to extra publicity. The more a candidate says publicly, the greater the chance that he or she will slip up. Yet, for someone like Trump, who has been in the spotlight constantly since he announced his first presidential run in 2015, that may not matter much, Evans said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re here seven years later, and who hasn\u2019t made up their mind about Trump? \u2026 I don\u2019t think there are many people who are going to change their mind about Trump,\u201d Evans said. \u201cAnd Trump has said all sorts of stupid things which would hurt other candidates, but for various different reasons, it doesn\u2019t affect him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, a message conveying negative information could prove more damaging to a lesser-known candidate, he said, \u201cbecause you haven\u2019t heard something positive about him first.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why Trump has repeatedly aimed at DeSantis. \u201cHe\u2019s trying to define DeSantis in a negative way, before DeSantis can define himself,\u201d Evans said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5353238\" style=\"width: 3530px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/06\/23\/id5353238-06232023-DSC01737-Ron-DeSantis-1200x800.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a><br \/>\n  <\/figure>\n<h2>Playing Nice Doesn\u2019t Work<\/h2>\n<p>In response to some people expressing dismay over Trump\u2019s \u201cattacks\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Big-name politicians like Trump, Biden, and rivals vie for positions in a media landscape resembling the Wild West. Fox News and CNN, two major networks, have experienced high-profile shakeups, leaving candidates and viewers uncertain about their future political leanings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1196,"featured_media":1959854,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1959853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1959853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1196"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1959853"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1959853\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1959854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1959853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1959853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1959853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}