There is one SECRET TRICK that Trump used to get elected. You'll NEVER GUESS what it was.
Sorry, I'll break out of clickbait hypnosis. But there is one massive advantage that Trump had over Clinton:
He was profitable to big media.
Do you remember the ad buys for the first Republican debate? It was like the Super Bowl. Unprecedented as far as I'm aware.
Did you know the NFL ratings dropped almost 20% during the election? (http://www.forbes.com/sites/bobcook/2016/11/28/youth-football-participation-trends-signal-whether-nfls-ratings-slip-will-be-long-term/#2f9fb01d3b45) The NFL is more recession proof than cigarettes and tobacco. Know where what they were doing? Watching CNN and FoxNews.
Think about that, Trump had people watching news channels rather than the national gladiator bloodlust sport of America, football.
We sit here now bemoaning the role of the bankrupt fourth estate in the election of the orangutan totalitarian. It is undeniable that corruption, malaise, and incompetence has overtaken whatever valuable public service the institution of a free press used to provide to the great land.
But remember, we have seen now two decades of anticompetitive cartel consolidation of mass media:
Disney, AOL, Time Warner
Six companies own 90% of media (http://www.morriscreative.com/6-corporations-control-90-of-the-media-in-america/),
Donald Trump was making these companies billions of dollars in eyeballs. Across all properties, from news to websites to radio to television. Cheap, easy programming. At all levels, producers could play Trump, get ratings, go home early. It was that easy.
These media conglomerates run on profits, BIIIIIG profits. If there is a big profit out there, it would take a massive hammer to get a 90 billion dollar company to say no. It's why no real news in general makes it to the screen or front page: it doesn't sell. There is no profit-second, truth-first major media outlet anymore. They all are corrupted by being consolidated into large companies, and your little corner of that company only continues to exist if it shows revenue.
I have to emphasize the profits here. ESPN, perhaps Disney's #1 property, has been subjected to reams of cuts and salary squeezes and layoffs to keep the overall company (and their executive goldmine options) profits up. Profits are everything, and not easy to reliably get. When a bonanza like Trump comes along, truth will take a backseat to profits, just like it does with oil and global warming.
Hillary did not bring a profit. Q-ratings were low. Didn't say anything interesting. Bad screen presence. Negative baggage. No soundbites. Avoided and distrusted media.
Well, there was one way to make a profit off of Hillary: bash her, ride existing resentment and propaganda from the Clinton years. Or republish whatever Trump said about her that brought in ratings.
Not good.
Fake news definitely played a role in this election, but it's role is minor compared to the essential role mainstream media had in getting Trump elected. Fake news is the current fall guy, who big media will point to if the specter of regulation or *gasp* return to principles is demanded.
Above all, in four years Trump will need to be faced with someone who can win this game. It might take a George Clooney or other famous name to play the role of a politician. Who has media relationships, experience with publicity, and can go toe-to-toe in social media. We may truly be in a post-substance figurehead election process first hinted at when John F Kennedy beat Nixon who looked like a weasel on TV. It's the logical end state.
Typical news coverage of a famous person or story follows the fast rise and great fall arc. I was waiting for the "great fall", where the media builds someone up, only to tear them down, to happen to Trump. The "great fall" occurs when building you up doesn't make the media a profit anymore, so tearing you down is what they do to squeeze the last dollars.
Trump never stopped making money.
Sorry, I'll break out of clickbait hypnosis. But there is one massive advantage that Trump had over Clinton:
He was profitable to big media.
Do you remember the ad buys for the first Republican debate? It was like the Super Bowl. Unprecedented as far as I'm aware.
Did you know the NFL ratings dropped almost 20% during the election? (http://www.forbes.com/sites/bobcook/2016/11/28/youth-football-participation-trends-signal-whether-nfls-ratings-slip-will-be-long-term/#2f9fb01d3b45) The NFL is more recession proof than cigarettes and tobacco. Know where what they were doing? Watching CNN and FoxNews.
Think about that, Trump had people watching news channels rather than the national gladiator bloodlust sport of America, football.
We sit here now bemoaning the role of the bankrupt fourth estate in the election of the orangutan totalitarian. It is undeniable that corruption, malaise, and incompetence has overtaken whatever valuable public service the institution of a free press used to provide to the great land.
But remember, we have seen now two decades of anticompetitive cartel consolidation of mass media:
Disney, AOL, Time Warner
Six companies own 90% of media (http://www.morriscreative.com/6-corporations-control-90-of-the-media-in-america/),
Donald Trump was making these companies billions of dollars in eyeballs. Across all properties, from news to websites to radio to television. Cheap, easy programming. At all levels, producers could play Trump, get ratings, go home early. It was that easy.
These media conglomerates run on profits, BIIIIIG profits. If there is a big profit out there, it would take a massive hammer to get a 90 billion dollar company to say no. It's why no real news in general makes it to the screen or front page: it doesn't sell. There is no profit-second, truth-first major media outlet anymore. They all are corrupted by being consolidated into large companies, and your little corner of that company only continues to exist if it shows revenue.
I have to emphasize the profits here. ESPN, perhaps Disney's #1 property, has been subjected to reams of cuts and salary squeezes and layoffs to keep the overall company (and their executive goldmine options) profits up. Profits are everything, and not easy to reliably get. When a bonanza like Trump comes along, truth will take a backseat to profits, just like it does with oil and global warming.
Hillary did not bring a profit. Q-ratings were low. Didn't say anything interesting. Bad screen presence. Negative baggage. No soundbites. Avoided and distrusted media.
Well, there was one way to make a profit off of Hillary: bash her, ride existing resentment and propaganda from the Clinton years. Or republish whatever Trump said about her that brought in ratings.
Not good.
Fake news definitely played a role in this election, but it's role is minor compared to the essential role mainstream media had in getting Trump elected. Fake news is the current fall guy, who big media will point to if the specter of regulation or *gasp* return to principles is demanded.
Above all, in four years Trump will need to be faced with someone who can win this game. It might take a George Clooney or other famous name to play the role of a politician. Who has media relationships, experience with publicity, and can go toe-to-toe in social media. We may truly be in a post-substance figurehead election process first hinted at when John F Kennedy beat Nixon who looked like a weasel on TV. It's the logical end state.
Typical news coverage of a famous person or story follows the fast rise and great fall arc. I was waiting for the "great fall", where the media builds someone up, only to tear them down, to happen to Trump. The "great fall" occurs when building you up doesn't make the media a profit anymore, so tearing you down is what they do to squeeze the last dollars.
Trump never stopped making money.
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