Media organizations and media personalities seem fixated on Donald J. Trump (DJT) and are devising strategies for how they will report and comment on his initiatives announced on Twitter or Facebook.
For whatever the reasons, DJT has demonstrated mastery of politics by winning the presidency, and mastery of media by out maneuvering just about every major media organization and media personality on the planet using social media.
DJT still has to show mastery of governance and mastery of policy making. Those are areas where the MSM could prove to have the upper hand because it’s not clear that even DJT can dominate those areas through his use of SM. But every sign suggests that DJT intends to bypass the reportage and influence of media, and to prove mastery of both through his SM politics media network.
Can the MSM beat DJT?
That’s not certain.
But it will take an understanding of how the mind of the master works, how media organizations and media personalities report the news and produce commentary, and then discerning whether the MSM can respond with competing models which are sustainable over time.
Related
“How to Beat Trump in a Debate-He has three weaknesses,” Jim Newell, Slate.com [9/25/2016]
One center of gravity and competition involves DJT, the NY Times and CNN. DJT is fixated on the NY Times and CNN, and they seem to be fixated on him. We believe it has to do with their respective followings on social media.
One of the pillars of the House of Trump is social media. That includes DJT’s social media following, and his use of the SM tools of Twitter and Facebook. To date, DJT does not use email or text.
Although DJT touts a SM following of more than 40 Million, it’s closer to 36 Million [18.5M Twitter; 17.5M FB]. That data compares to the SM following of two media powerhouses which do not share much of DJT’s ideology or viewpoints: (a) the NY Times, 45.3 Million [32.6M Twitter; 12.7 FB]; and (b) CNN, 56.8 Million [30.6M Twitter; 25.2 FB].
So on any given day when DJT seeks to reach his base before his message filters through the MSM, the NYT and CNN, with their vast digital resources and followings can get into the print media space, broadcasting space and SM space quickly with responses, rebuttals, corrections and commentary. That, of course, would be followed by other media sources.
We’ll watch closely how effective the House of Trump will be in its SM outreach and the delivery of the DJT message against the competing outreach and narratives of the NYT, CNN and other competitors.
That will be the measure of just how far DJT and the House of Trump can go with their effort to outpace the MSM.
Eric Voc New Media Collaborative 