So... How much of a role do you think the media played in Dump's victory?

[CarbShark]

Fox News and other right wing media, 99%.

Mainstream media 1%

Social media, the other 99%

 

[dudalb]

IMnotreallyHO, Harris did not run the best possible campaign. Her message became increasingly "vote for me because I'm not Donald Trump". It's great that she had a lengthy discussion on her ideas on the campaign's website, but where was that in her speeches? The Republican Party's chief pollster, Frank Lunz, has said basically the same thing.

They played a part but it is as Truasti says, laughable to say the media is biased for trump, except for FOX news and some podcasters. The old school media was not.
What they did do was be complicit in trying to cover up the fact that Biden was senile for more or less a year after the American public had figure it out. That set Harris and the Dems generally up for failure. There is no good answer she can give to the question, "When did you realize Biden should go?" Part of this is Biden and his teams fault, he said he'd go and he didn't but he should have before the primaries. That results in the Dems eventually nominate the person that dropped out of the 2020 race before the primaries even started.

The press also made a habit of taking Trumps generally already terrible statements out of context to make it seem like they were worse than they actually were. Making it seem like trump said Liz Cheney should be put in front of a firing squad, him saying there'd be a blood bath but not mentioning that he meant for US automakers, the good people on both sides but omitting he'd condemned the far right ralliers in the same speech. Folks just stopped listening or believing the media.

Don't get me wrong, the GOP nominated it and half the country voted for him. So, its not like the media or Dems are the primarily at fault. It's just they've spent 10 years trying to convince America he's basically Hitler and he's only gotten more popular. I suppose a lot of you think that means half of Americans would vote for Hitler too. I think that's as crazy as voting for Trump. Personally, I think you all should have been comparing him to Hugo Chavez not Hitler. I think its a more apt comparison, they were/are both populist authoritarian demagogues.

Bursoclini (probably mispelled that) in Italy comes to mind.
But you are seeing a lot of hysterial on these forums this morning.
Ithink Trump will be a disaster, but not a catastrophe. I think the whole There will ben o more elections line is a bit much.

 

[Donal]

They played a part but it is as Truasti says, laughable to say the media is biased for trump, except for FOX news and some podcasters. The old school media was not.

Giving him press coverage for every little thing and having "debates" about whether or not rape makes him less presidential. The on air people may or may not like him, but the corporations paying their salaries loved him.

What they did do was be complicit in trying to cover up the fact that Biden was senile for more or less a year after the American public had figure it out.

Hey, remember all those deep dives into whether Trump was physically and mentally capable of doing the job? No? You don't? Me neither. Weird how Trump slurred, rambled, wandered around, got lost in his own sentences, etc. Basically, everything Biden did, only doing it worse and for far longer. Trump is older than Biden was in 2020. Where were all the questions about his age?

Where was all the discussions about his disastrous tenure as president? Remember COVID? Because it seems like no one else did.

Why didn't anyone push Trump on killing the border bill that gave the Republicans everything they wanted?

That set Harris and the Dems generally up for failure. There is no good answer she can give to the question, "When did you realize Biden should go?" Part of this is Biden and his teams fault, he said he'd go and he didn't but he should have before the primaries. That results in the Dems eventually nominate the person that dropped out of the 2020 race before the primaries even started.

2020 was a million years ago.

The press also made a habit of taking Trumps generally already terrible statements out of context to make it seem like they were worse than they actually were.

◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊. they bring on his sycophants to try and sanewash them.

Making it seem like trump said Liz Cheney should be put in front of a firing squad,

He did

him saying there'd be a blood bath but not mentioning that he meant for US automakers,

because that wasn't what he meant

the good people on both sides but omitting he'd condemned the far right ralliers in the same speech.

You are a white supremacist if you are defending a confederate statue. There were eno "very fine people" on that side.

Folks just stopped listening or believing the media.

Because the media "both sides" everything.

Don't get me wrong, the GOP nominated it and half the country voted for him. So, its not like the media or Dems are the primarily at fault. It's just they've spent 10 years trying to convince America he's basically Hitler and he's only gotten more popular.

HE HAS SPENT THE LAST 10 YEARS TRYING TO CONVINCE AMERICANS HE IS BASICALLY HITLER

I suppose a lot of you think that means half of Americans would vote for Hitler too.

Right now...ya. If he showed up with a valid birth certificate and promised cheap oil and diet soda, he would have a shot.

I think that's as crazy as voting for Trump.

Not even close. Voting for Trump has very real and predictable consequences

Personally, I think you all should have been comparing him to Hugo Chavez not Hitler. I think its a more apt comparison, they were/are both populist authoritarian demagogues.

aaaand Hitler wasn't? Did the Orange Weakling have a collection of Chavez's speeches by his bed? Did he go around using Chavez's phrasing, or did he use phrases like "poison the blood" and refer to bad genes?

 

[dudalb]

Agreed the whole 'Mainstream Media was secretly supporting Trump " routine is just plain stupid.
What they failed to do is sound the alarm loudly enough, It was more a sin of omssion the commision.
And what is the solution? Throw out freedom of speech?

 

[The Great Zaganza]

no, just don't treat obvious crimes the same way to treat minor verbal blunders.

 

[ahhell]

Agreed the whole 'Mainstream Media was secretly supporting Trump " routine is just plain stupid.
What they failed to do is sound the alarm loudly enough, It was more a sin of omssion the commision.
And what is the solution? Throw out freedom of speech?

Maybe true in 2016 but they've been sounding the alarm like crazy, but its only been effective on the people that already agree.

 

[dudalb]

Maybe true in 2016 but they've been sounding the alarm like crazy, but its only been effective on the people that already agree.

I think there is a tendacy to dismiss a lot of the alarm as 'Just Politics as usual".
I aslo think the boy who cried Wolf might apply.The Dems have often screamed Fascism at every GOP candidate, so when the real deal shows up people don't beleive them.

 

[ahhell]

Looking at the exit polls, it's really the fault of Blacks and Hispanics. Trump got 20% of the Black vote in some states and up to 45% of hispanics in some states. The claims from previous elections that Trump was picking up minority voters actually came true this time.

 

[dudalb]

Looking at the exit polls, it's really the fault of Blacks and Hispanics. Trump got 20% of the Black vote in some states and up to 45% of hispanics in some states. The claims from previous elections that Trump was picking up minority voters actually came true this time.

It is the whole Macho Young Male thing, frankly. Though I think any Black who votes for Trump is insane.

 

[ahhell]

How Trump won the 2024 election — CBS News exit poll results

Trump's election victory was a product of voter discontent with the state of the country, the economy and a desire for change, and he made inroads with some Democratic groups.

www.cbsnews.com

Probably should be in another thread but... the Dems have a messaging problem I think. Trump gained ground in almost every demographic that he shouldn't have. It boggles the mind. Its a bit of an exaggeration but still. Family income wasn't very determinative but Trump won those making less than 100k year, Harris won those making more than 100k a year.

ETA, I shouldn't be excited about this, it plays into my pre-existing beliefs.

 

[Sherkeu]

Which big media companies are we thinking were pro-trump? Fox? Who else?

On fcc and major cable, the content is about 85% negative for Trump...so I wonder what you are including.
??

(And do many still pay for cable TV? I cut that cord ages ago. I only see it when someone comments on a TV segment. Though watching at my moms on occasion, the ad breaks are unbearably long)

 

[Donal]

Looking at the exit polls, it's really the fault of Blacks and Hispanics. Trump got 20% of the Black vote in some states and up to 45% of hispanics in some states. The claims from previous elections that Trump was picking up minority voters actually came true this time.

It looks like there were about 18 million fewer votes this year compared to 2020. About -15 million for Harris and -3 million for Trump.

I wonder if it is less that Trump made big gains and more people just didn't show up for Harris

also, what makes you think exit polls are any more accurate than all the other ones?

 

[Donal]

Agreed the whole 'Mainstream Media was secretly supporting Trump " routine is just plain stupid.
What they failed to do is sound the alarm loudly enough, It was more a sin of omssion the commision.
And what is the solution? Throw out freedom of speech?

Maybe stop treating elections like a mid 90s SuperBowl where one team is far better than the other but you really need people to watch your endless coverage of why Stan Humphries is just as good as Steve Young?

 

[stanfr]

It looks like there were about 18 million fewer votes this year compared to 2020. About -15 million for Harris and -3 million for Trump.

I wonder if it is less that Trump made big gains and more people just didn't show up for Harris

also, what makes you think exit polls are any more accurate than all the other ones?

That's obviously a big factor. A lot of dems were very disappointed they didn't get to 'pick' their candidate, and they took out their anger at the party (shooting themselves in the foot in the process)
The Trumpists of course are arguing that the 15 million were all dead or illegal voters who voted in 2020 but were prevented from voting this time around. The irony is, based on what we've seen with the demographics, if any illegals voted they probably voted for Trump.

 

[AmyStrange]

I don't think it's the media so much as stupid people with no critical thinking skills that only believe in things that confirm their biases.

I've been everywhere on the web (from MSN forums to fox entertainment forums), and one thing I've noticed is that maga weirdoes will disparage CNN, ABC, USA Today et. al. as lying DNC stooges if they post anything negative about trump and what's his name, but then a day later, when these same organizations say something positive about trump or negative about Harris, they'll consider it a fact.


-

 

[dudalb]

I don't think it's the media so much as stupid people with no critical thinking skills only believing in things that confirm their biases.

I've been everywhere on the web (from MSN forums to fox entertainment forums), and one thing I've noticed is that maga weirdoes will disparage the CNN, ABC, USA Today et. al. as lying DNC stooges if they post anything negative about trump and what's his name, but then a day later, when these same organizations say something positive about trump or negative about Harris, they'll consider it a fact.


-The word is "Conformation Bias".

 

[AmyStrange]

-The word is "Conformation Bias".

Sorry, but I won't conform that.


-

 

[thaiboxerken]

Sadly, the media is in denial of how much The Party will dicatate what they can and cannot report or say.

 

[Donal]

It is a mutal relationship. The media(or the owners) tells The Party what they want to hear and the Party tells the media how to get Sacred Access to hear it

 

[JayUtah]

They played a part but it is as Truasti says, laughable to say the media is biased for trump, except for FOX news and some podcasters. The old school media was not.

Agreed. What they were is Old School. When we say that the media sane-washed Trump, that's not equivalent to saying the mainstream media is biased toward Trump. I think it's a stronger argument to say they were biased toward old-school journalism. What that means is that they're going to try to remain prestigious and take the high road in the face of the muckraking you see on social media. You bring up how Trump said to give Liz Cheney a rifle and send her in harm's way before we respect her views on war. You noted how social (and other) media ran with the dubious interpretation that Trump was calling for her to face an executioner's firing squad. Old school media won't necessary follow suit. They're trying to remain dispassionate and "above the fray." That's what I think better explains my hypothesis.

That works fine when you're distancing yourself from often highly overheated political rhetoric and trying to report fact and reasonable analysis. But when the candidate really is spouting sheer gibberish and rather alarming rhetoric, I don't think it's good journalism to simply "rise above that" and essentially ignore legitimate warning signs. "I want to round up all the immigrants and put them in camps before I deport them" should be causing people to remember the last time we did that. It shouldn't be reported as, "Former President Trump Outlines His Border Policy at Rally."

Don't get me wrong, the GOP nominated it and half the country voted for him. So, its not like the media or Dems are the primarily at fault.

I think it's worth keeping this thread on track. The question is, "To what extent did the media play a part?" You can answer that question without going into detail about all the other things people did right or wrong, many of which may have had a much greater effect than media. We'll be analyzing this election for the next four years at least, and I think it's silly to believe the answers we come up with this week will survive the scrutiny of history.