Hearts & Minds: Never mind the politics, just look at the numbers

As the Democrats examine what went wrong, it’s emerged that Kamala Harris was booked to appear on Joe Rogan’s podcast but cancelled. According to one of her team it was because they feared a progressive backlash. This was later changed to claim the candidate had scheduling issues. Whatever the reason, Harris didn’t show. Donald Trump did, and his interview with Rogan has had 50m views. Vice -president elect JD Vance’s appearance on Rogan has received 16m. By contrast, Harris’s Democratic National Convention speech has been watched 29m times and her interview on Fox News,16m times.

This courting of the ‘manosphere’, podcasters and You Tubers enjoyed by mostly 18-29 young males, is credited with delivering Trump their vote. His appearances on the ‘bro-casts’ of NFL players, a You Tube wrestler and the jokey Nelk Boys as well as Rogan, saw Trump mop up this vast swathe of previously adrift voters. This ditching of mainstream media is being hailed in some circles as representing the death of ‘MSM’ and marking a sea change for comms strategists.

The figures are eye-watering but content-wise they’re little different from the tabloids of MSM. Most platforms, regardless of their method of delivery, engage with a particular section of society. The New York Times’ readership is 91 per cent Democrat, Fox News’s viewers are 93 per cent Republican. Similarly, Saturday Night Live, which Harris did go on, has a largely Democrat following. It’s just as applicable to the UK, where the established players lean to the right or left. One notable exception is the BBC which claims to be determinedly centrist but its news bulletins are being dropped by right-wingers in favour of GB News.

That partisanship extends online. Every media provider relying on subscriptions aims to create loyalty and repeat sales. The best way of achieving that is to build an echo chamber, supplying what their customers want and not driving them away.

Instead of focusing on Rogan’s demographic, Harris might have been better advised to concentrate on the numbers. Rogan and his ilk reach more people than the news programmes of the major networks. Trump focused on hitting those big totals; Harris, by going where it was comfortable and safe, did not.

Comms strategists should not treat online media as alternative, it’s not a question of either or, but as an extension of existing media. Increasingly, it’s where most people, especially the young, reside.

Chris Blackhurst is one of the UK’s foremost business journalists. He was previously Editor of The Independent and City Editor of the Evening Standard.