Rob Flaherty, deputy campaign manager for Vice President Kamala Harris' bid for the White House, said there is essentially "no value" for Democrats in talking to traditional media outlets during national campaigns.
Democrats have had to do some soul-searching following Harris' lost to President-elect Donald Trump, which also saw the GOP hold their slim majority in the House and reclaim the Senate. Flaherty told Semafor that he observed early in the campaign how President-elect Donald Trump and his team embraced the new media landscape by appearing on podcasts and conservative media.
The rapid growth of podcasters, YouTube streamers, and likeminded pundits, coupled with the truncated timeframe for Harris, forced the campaign to rethink to whom they would grant interviews. Most notably, Flaherty said the campaign passed on opportunities to speak with major legacy media outlets because those audiences were already voting for the vice president.
"There's just no value — with respect to my colleagues in the mainstream press — in a general election, to speaking to The New York Times or speaking to The Washington Post, because those [readers] are already with us," Flaherty said.
Despite the less than stellar reception to her interview with Bret Baier of Fox News, Flaherty said it was a critical moment.
"One of the most important moments of the campaign for the vice president was her interview with Bret Baier. That was a huge fundraising moment. It was a huge social moment," he said.
Flaherty offered high praise for the Trump campaign's ability to pivot and respond to the news cycle on a dime, offering Trump's appearance at a McDonald's in Feasterville-Trevose, Pennsylvania, as an example.
"When Trump did the McDonald's thing, it was smart, because it was a thing that obviously drove television coverage, but it also drove social media engagement too," Flaherty said. "And those things often happen in tandem, but they don't always, and so it was the sweet spot. It drove traditional coverage and nontraditional media."
Flaherty said legacy media has seen their public perception erode over the last several years and are no longer viewed as a source of reliable information.
"The reason folks are seeking alternative sources of media and are turning away from political news is because they don't trust our institutions," he said. "They don't trust elites, they don't trust the media, they don't trust all this stuff. So, the party of elites and institutions is going to have a hard time selling to people in these places."
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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