The Role of the Media in Elections
Choosing to cover or not cover a story can make a difference
During the 2016 Presidential election cycle, some outlets decided that the general election campaign was nothing more than a coronation for Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton. Her opponent, Republican Donald Trump, was nothing more than a reality star with the hopes of landing a high-profile talking head gig.
This ignored a primary cycle where he ran against more than a dozen professional politicians, and he beat them. It also ignored discontent among some factions in the liberal base with Clinton, whom many felt was handed the nomination against Bernie Sanders.
When Trump triumphed over Clinton on election night despite her winning the popular vote, there was a lot of head-scratching. How did this happen?
The media crafted a narrative and spoon-fed it to the public. As the candidate with more experience in politics than nearly anyone else on Earth, Clinton was the surefire winner. There was not a world in which they believed that Trump would be inaugurated as President of the United States.
Multiple think pieces emerged from his win. Many pointed to the fact that he didn’t play the popular vote game, instead, he played the electoral college game. None of them mentioned the role of the…
