What I have to say about the new media landscape is not the least bit original.
It is obvious that the vast print media has been in decline for decades. I have followed the influence for over half a century, during which time I spent many decades in active politics. Local newspapers never once had any impact on an election. Never. I doubt that the NYTimes had any national influence on an election. The fact that the print press is rapidly going out of business is irrelevant to direct action politics.
The same is true for TV. So far as having a direct impact on national politics, we know that the first TV debate between Obama and Romney was a disaster for Obama, but he won the election anyway. In 2016, the TV media created Donald Trump with lies, distortions and nasty bias. The TV media created a strong backlash in favor of Trump. It was a perverse consequence of bad behavior and horrible bias.
What I want to point out is that the voting public knew how badly the TV media lied because it learned the substantive truth from four sources: talk radio, Twitter, Internet video of speeches and Internet news sources.
These four new media are now what counts in America. These are the trusted, often original, sources for the American public.
- Talk radio reaches roughly 25 million Americans every day. The most powerful voice is Rush Limbaugh for 15 hours a week. Rush never makes a mistake and is deeply trusted. After him is Sean Hannity who is an original source who interviews political newsmakers daily on a vast radio network and on Fox TV cable news.
- Twitter is an original and direct source. It comes directly from the newsmaker.
- Internet video is an original source, usually a short Youtube clip of a video subject that has been distorted by the mass media is then available accurately. Youtube clips are circulated widely, often in the millions of views.
- There are many news sources on the Internet ranging from the most powerful, the Drudge Report, to the newest Breitbart News, which now surpasses the NYTimes digital edition in daily viewership.
I went to the University of Chicago where all teaching material was the original source (in English translation). It looks like genuine Americans (not Lefties) prefer original source material for their lives as well.
The new technologies are bringing original sources to everyone.
Will this bring Trumpism to the world? A question for another day.