Donald Trump and the Art of Communication
When Donald Trump told the crowd in Ohio that the 9/11 attacks were applauded by thousands of Muslims in New York, traditional, social and digital media outlets went crazy. Prominent traditional media organizations moved to denounce Trump. Even Bill O’Reilly told Trump that no such video footage of thousands of Muslims cheering existed. Even though a majority of respected news outlets and media properties moved to immediately denounce, criticize and mock Trump, some did not. Among those who supported Trump’s assertion, or simply supported his right to levy such a claim, are the National Enquirer, www.breitbart.com, Glenn Kessler (Washington Post fact checker), Bernard Kerik (former NYPD commissioner), Rush Limbaugh, and a host of click-baity pro-conservative websites. When some evidence, such as police reports and supposed eyewitnesses who saw Muslims celebrating poured in, conservative media outlets immediately began to post articles that said “Trump was Right!”.
This fascinates me. As a communications professional, I know the message and delivery is the fortress for which your battleships leave to lay siege to obstacles ahead. The war of facts quickly became a war of words. The truth is, some Muslims were indeed celebrating, on American soil no less, the falling of the World Trade Center. There is probably enough evidence from high ranking officials, and eyewitness testimonials (like those who called into the Howard Stern show), to support part — and that’s key to this discussion — of Trump’s claim. However, there is no evidence that the Muslim celebrators numbered in the thousands or even hundreds. What we have is a rather typical scenario orchestrated not by Donald Trump per se, but by those in opposing media camps who twist words, and in the case of Donald Trump, hold a mouth accountable for every syllable spoken. That is, if the phrase is not true word for word, or in some sensible order of the words, then that person must be a liar.
Donald Trump is certainly wrong in stating that he personally saw thousands of Muslims celebrating in New York on that fateful day in America. Such a statement is thoroughly inflammatory and does very little to move national discourse on foreign relations and domestic security to a better place. However, many liberal media outlets used his commentary to spin a narrative that tells the audience there were no Muslims in America celebrating on 9/11, and any belief in such lunacy is wrong, Islamophobic, and racist. Conservative media outlets, armed with information that there were some, less than 100 on record, Muslims celebrating the destruction of the Twin Towers disregarded Trumps original claim of thousands and immediately claimed Trump to be the victor.
Both sides engage in intellectual dishonesty and are therefore guilty of ethical sloppiness. Stating that no Muslims at all were celebrating on 9/11 because Trump was incorrect in his numerical assessment is a lie. Yet claiming Trump was correct because there were some Muslims in America celebrating is also a lie.
How does this relate to developing a digital media strategy? I think three points are worth noting.
Building a Trusted Network Through Engagement
Those who supported Trump during this latest bout of controversy were willing to professionally, and in some cases personally, make themselves visible as agents who were willing to defend Trump even though he was only circumstantially correct. Would Trump had this much support at the beginning of his campaign cycle? No. But over time Trump (well, Trump’s team) has grown to become an engagement extraordinaire. Trump is a relentless and effective user of social media and often retweets and quotes comments, links, and other content his followers share with him on social media. This takes very little time to do. Many organizations forget this connection part of digital engagement. Trump is able to, on an hourly basis, come across as a human being. This is certainly explanatory to his current level of success in the 2016 election cycle. Through this engagement and humanization, Trump has developed a legion of followers who believe their privacy and positions on contentious matters are not nearly as important as making sure Trump is validated every step of the way. Having such a digital tribe is the dream of any organization. Having such a digital tribe means the organization is always supported and watched after by the most loyal followers.
Controversy is Golden When The Price of Gold is High
Donald Trump’s campaign is propelled by controversy. In an election cycle the price of “gold” is high as is its demand. The more controversial Trump is the more he dominates the news cycle. This is not an organizational call to be controversial, but to be bold, firm, and unapologetic when called for. Any organization must have a core message that serves as the ground for all subsequent actions. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) frequently must take bold stances against health issues that may go against popular sentiment. Remember the Ebola crisis? Traditional and social media did a very poor job to curb panick. In fact an argument could be made that these outlets simply added fuel to the fire. The American people, growing in their fears over the deadly virus, increasingly reported to polling agencies that they wanted the borders to shut down, and all incoming international flights promptly stopped. Dr. Thomas Frieden, the head of the CDC, was verbally executed throughout the 24 hour news cycles for his decision to not completely shut down entries from foreign countries, especially not from where the virus was most prevalent. Dr. Frieden stayed the course and within a few months the virus was contained enough so that American’s perceived they were not as directly put at risk of contracting the virus. Dr. Frieden’s stance was bold and controversial. But it was also the right call. And because Dr. Frieden had such conviction in his policy, it garnered him positive attention, and perhaps even greater aggregate respect. When an organization can make bold and controversial stances at the right time, and stay the course, the organization can perhaps open discourse and change minds. In many cases being bold and controversial also serves to strengthen and energize the organization’s base.
Right or Wrong? Who Cares
The organization should care if it’s right or wrong. Being right is always better than being wrong. However, ideological and philosophical purity may not actually be what followers, users, and loyalists care about. An organization that is involved in offering solutions to problems will always face opposition in those who seek to twist words and mince data for the sole purpose to score an ideological win. The organization may be that agent someday (though I sincerely hope not). When the organization has loyal and dedicated users (“fans”) then even when the message or solutions are wrong, the core focus of the message and solution will still be imparted. And should apologies be necessary, those apologies will fall on open ears. When it comes to engagement most followers are not invested in right versus wrong. Instead they ask “is this organization still working for me?” It’s up to the organization to make sure that working for its followers is the right thing to do.
For Trump, he has energized his base and some independents in such way that not only will they stick their neck out for his policies, but also offer him forgiveness if that time should ever come. This phenomena is not unique to Donald Trump, but he has certainly gained a level of mastery very rarely seen in politics.
