Sam Kahn at Persuasion:
The 2024 election will be “decided by podcasts,” Bobby Kennedy predicted in 2023—and that may be the line for which he is best remembered. The election is still a coin toss, but Trump has had momentum recently and may well have sealed a win this weekend with his appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast—which, to me, felt like an historical moment. The significance of that appearance wasn’t just for this election. It was the moment where new media decisively replaced old.
Harris has done well in everything related to more traditional mass media. She presided over a successful Democratic National Convention. She out-debated Trump. But, around her, the hold of mass media is rapidly collapsing. Her anodyne 60 Minutes interview did more harm than good—the interview was almost perfectly bland, and all that anybody will remember of it is the revelation that 60 Minutes appeared to give her a mulligan on a muffed answer. Her brave decision to appear on Fox News may well have backfired—with Bret Baier subjecting her to a stinging interview that put Harris constantly on the defensive. And, in a real stab-in-the-back, both The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times—or, more specifically, their techie owners—broke with long-held precedent at the worst possible time to refrain from endorsing candidates.
None of this is Harris’ fault, exactly, but she’s fighting today’s war with yesterday’s weapons—or, more precisely, the weapons of several election cycles ago. Trump has consistently been ahead of her on podcasts.
More here.
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