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Will the Media “Ghost” Donald Trump?
Many have suggested that Donald Trump won the GOP nomination through access to the free media he received as a bombastic novelty candidate. He calls in to chat shows on a weekly basis and he’s practically a regular on Fox News. He supplies website and newspaper headline writers with material almost every day. He’s never not trending on social media. In short, he’s good for ratings. The prevailing wisdom is that the media will go negative on Trump now that he has locked up the nomination. I disagree. First of all, it’s not like any of them are giving him favorable press. With the exception of Fox News — which is preaching to the anti-Clinton Choir — I think they will just cover him less and less. In social media parlance, they will “ghost” him.
For large news media outlets, good ratings and the revenue they precipitate will always be the primary objectives, but electing Democrats — particularly minority and female candidates — is a close second. Besides, the historic significance of the first female president will generate lots of ratings. Hillary Clinton’s scandals (old and new) will attract listeners and viewers and users. The prospect of Bill Clinton becoming the first gentleman and perhaps a cabinet member will make good copy. So will the promise of his return to White House, the scene of his intern shenanigans.
How will Trump win swing voters when the rest of the media confiscate — or just shrink — his bullhorn? What happens when celebrities stop condemning his latest outrage and cease impulsively at-replying him on Twitter? What will he do when his inevitable “move to the middle” comes too late and nobody notices him acting “more presidential” and responsible in appeals to swing voters and disaffected Democrats?
On the other hand, it might enervate Trump supporters, many of whom oppose the media and the “GOPe” as much (if not more) than they support Trump. What happens when the media don’t condemn Trump enough to fuel Trump’s support? I know people in my personal life who exhibit more than a few symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder. I handle them by never mentioning the object(s) of their ire. Ask any heartbroken high-school kid which is worse: being reviled or being ignored.
The media don’t have to bash Trump to damage him, nor do they have to ignore him completely. They can take the wind out of his sails simply by leaving him alone.
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I think that the bottom line will, er…, trump politics. If Fox becomes the only network airing Trump, their ratings will explode, driving advertisers away from the other networks. In the end, the networks who “ghost” Trump will be forced to put The Donald back on the air.
I think Richard has this correct.
We aren’t living in a golden age of broadcast and cable media. Many of these organizations are financial basket cases.
Somebody will continue to air Trump whether it is Fox or otherwise and they will garner the ratings and ad dollars.
The networks are a pit of progressive groupthink, unfortunately they also have bills to pay.
I dunno. Fox’s audience is (a) old, (b) already against HRC, and (c) just got smaller because 10 of them passed away while I was writing this comment.
Money versus loyalty in corporate decisions. Let’s see, maybe this needs further study… a committee, yes, that’s the ticket, send them to a resort for a few months to figure this out.
With regard to the media prioritizing profits over slanted political coverage – if they could stop themselves from doing it, they would have by now.
I think that Trump knows this. Notice that he is constantly hyping his polling and media numbers. Not only does it feed his HHHUUUGGGEEE ego it also lets other know where the money train is.
One: I doubt they are so coordinated.
Two: Rather than give him less coverage they will try to give Hillary more.
Three: Hillary will not want more coverage because unlike Trump she doesn’t want to answer questions because that makes things hard for her, because she is a normal crooked politician.
Four: It has still yet to be determined that Trump’s over saturation plays well outside the GOP. Him being on all the time could just drive the marginal nonpartisan voters further away.
Corporations routinely give up profits for the progressive issue of the day. See all the companies currently leaving NC. And the lefty media is far more ideological than most corporations.
That being said, they won’t “ghost” Trump- it’s a Presidential election, and he gets ratings. They’ll just portray him as either a clown or Hitler, depending on how the host feels. His entire campaign is based on media. We’re now gonna see how he does when the media is bent on his destruction.
American news coverage is a heavily competitive industry. How is it going to be good for their bottom lines if they ‘ghost’ him? What else do they have in compelling news?
This isn’t strictly about money and the bottom line. Much of what is covered is for a rationale reason to hear a contrasting viewpoint of a person who seeks the reigns of power in the context of current events. For example, something major breaks in the Middle East. We hear from Obama. Next we’re going to hear from…Hillary? Hearing from Trump is a perfect and logical counterpoint to whatever the position of the current administration is. Do they want to ignore this? You’ll just want to change the channel. And coverage would be more pertinent leading up to the election. Count me as dubious. Much of what T has to say is interesting and refreshing, not to be so much in the confines of PC.
They will still cover him, but it will be almost wholly about his unsuitability to be president and how he can’t win or has already lost against Hillary. What they need is to create the self-fulfilling prophecy of his defeat and her victory, and they will. By the end of September it will be social convention that this is the inevitable outcome of the election.
Care to describe to me any company that is currently taking a charge against earnings for employee severance purposes by closing a NC facility due to HB 2? Heck, if that’s too difficult for someone with the tag you have, simply tell me any company that has removed any extra jobs available to NC?
Let’s see, it’s after 3PM MDT where I’m at. I’m seeing out of the corner of my eye CNN on the TV in my workplace. They are discussing Donald Trump again.
What did he do today? Merely visited, of all places, Bismarck, ND, for an oil/gas industry conference.
Yeah, let’s see how the other side can “ghost” Trump.
Not sure what you mean by “removed any extra jobs available,” but Deutsche Bank and PayPal have both cancelled planned NC expansions due to HB2 and not for economic reasons.
Those “planned expansions,” always subject to business conditions, are not companies leaving NC, no matter how you slice it. Though, if NC gave those two outfits tax breaks or any other funding to help with their expansions, and those two outfits are now reneging due to silly non-economic reasons, then clawback procedures are in order.
NC has successfully clawed back such funds, as companies like Dell can tell you.
http://www.nccommerce.com/Portals/0/Incentives/ClawbackReportApril2011.pdf
People in the media are so entrenched in their left-wing ideology, they can’t just help themselves.
There must be a simple explanation. Obama must not have told them to stop covering Trump. This has the desired effect of causing Hillary pain and making the Republican Party look ridiculous and fractured. In that equation, I can only see Hillary wanting to shut the Trump coverage down. Are they listening to her?
I don’t think so. Have you notice recently that every discussion, left or right, eventually revolves around that man?
We’ve been railing about the bias media, the half educated talking heads, the innate incentives of centralized media that promote centralized governance etc. for decades. Few rail against books or free libraries or porno in magazines, or political pamphlets, because each gets to read or not read whatever one wants. The sooner all TV and media content is all pay per program viewing the better. You folks who know about these things, is that possible? There’d be returns to niches and things only New Yorkers et al get to see live.
You guys are making the wrong assumptions and don’t seem to notice, that the media has not only made him look like a clown for the last year, they have been doing so for decades, and it doesn’t matter. You cant define Trump. He is defined already.
Trump is more like an idiot savant. A true phenomenon. The media may well try to do what you suggest, and then he pulls out his phone and speaks directly to his 7 million followers on Twitter and bypasses them. Those followers then speak to there followers and bam he is back in the papers.
Scott Adams blog does the best analysis of Trump I am seeing, because it looks at him from his persuasion abilities and judges him on that. Not on preconceived old notions that are constantly being disaproven.
The Media simply cannot ignore him. They can try and they will fail. Ask Huffpo about that plan.
This man just beat the living crap out of the greatest Republican Field in the last generation. Somehow you assume the media is going to beat that. Nope. The thought is laughable.
The man is going to be the next President of the USA. Hes going to win Florida, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and PA. All the boomers are going to come out and vote for him one last time. The retirement homes will sway the vote.
Your just going to have to get used to the thought.
This is what I expect will happen. So far the coverage has seemed to be, “Ooo, look at Trump. Watch how he fights with the other Republicans and knocks them out of the fight. Let’s see what the Republican party does now.” Once he’s the official candidate, I expect the coverage to become, “Can you believe he said that? Look at what a racist, moronic, buffoon the Republican party chose to represent them. Why in the world would anyone want this guy in the Oval Office?”
How effective they will be remains to be seen. But that’s what I expect them to do.
Accurate summary!
A quick example to support your take on boomer votes: We spent last week at an RV resort on the Oregon coast, a place filled with largely white middle class good folk, most retired, many with military backgrounds. I was having a pleasant conversation with a genial fellow about pickup trucks and other such important matters for us fifth-wheelers, all unrelated to politics. Suddenly a politically-related point came up, and he literally spat out how much he hates that “bastard” in the White House. I’m no sissy, but even I was surprised at his vehemence. I’ll bet there are many more like him who can’t wait to pull the lever for Trump and blast these cretins out of Washington.
I am agreeing with Lazy_Millennial and Weeping. Leftist mass media will not “ghost” Trump. They cannot afford to.
What they will do is demonize him. They are going to try to peel away older white married women from the GOP stronghold. The retired ladies are the only audience that remains for those morning shows, and they are going to have a daily feature that bashes Trump. One day it will be a divorced woman who blames her divorce on the affair she had with Trump. The next day it will be a woman entrepreneur whose small business went under because she got all strung out on credit because bills that were owed to her by one of Trump’s bankruptcies didn’t come through. The next day it will be a single mom who had to move 50 blocks further from her workplace because her rent-controlled apartment building was bought out for a Trump project. The next will be an investor who lost money in one of Trump’s ventures. The next day will be a divorced man who blames his divorce on the affair his ex had with Trump. Etc., &tc., and all with brief highlights on the news and talk shows.
Neither Trump nor the GOP are prepared to counter this.
I am pulling for awful Trump, but I expect a parade of horribles for the general campaign. Nevertheless we must pull for Trump because he is the only way to
Stop Crooked Hillary.