How Media Paved the Way For Trump: 'Conservative' Media Sells Out and the MSM Goes Along

[Judi Lynn]

By John ZieglerAug 24th, 2019, 9:30 am

This is part six of an eight-part series of columns by senior columnist John Ziegler, telling the story of the relationship between the mainstream news media’s demise as a cultural institution and the rise of Donald Trump, not only to the presidency of the United States — but as someone who now, despite unprecedented media opposition, is currently poised to be possibly reelected. Part five can be found here.


Way back in 2011, after I had separated myself as much as I could from Sarah Palin because of what I perceived as her trying to sabotage efforts to defeat President Barack Obama in 2012, I asked my literary agent put out a book proposal about conservative media to be titled, “A Business, Not a Cause.” Having spent about fifteen years in the “vast right-wing conspiracy” as a talk show host and documentary filmmaker, the premise was that economic circumstances were ripe for conservative media to help facilitate Obama’s reelection by essentially taking a “dive.”

Largely because I am not a celebrity, and also perhaps because the concept was too far ahead of its time, we never sold the book. But history has vindicated the theory far more dramatically than I had anticipated.

Having been very close to the late Andrew Breitbart during the 2008 election, I became convinced (as was he) that his boss at the time, Matt Drudge, was doing nearly everything he could to help elect Barack Obama while maintaining plausible deniability. I thought it was because he knew Obama would be fantastic for his business (which he absolutely turned out to be), though Andrew felt it was because Drudge had been, in his words, “Europeanized.”

The Obama presidency proved what everyone around the media business had always suspected; that having a president from the other “team,” especially someone perceived as scary, is actually the best circumstance economically for any political media outlet. A strong argument can be made that Obama single-handily saved talk radio and numerous right-wing websites (including, ironically, Breitbart.com), while making enormous amounts of money for Drudge and Fox News Channel.

Talk radio was especially desperate for the eight years of Obama. Not only did he provide them easy and consistent content (i.e., a “boogieman”), but the ratings boost he delivered was critical for the medium to survive several technological factors, including a radical change in the way that ratings are calculated and the popularity of satellite radio, which had virtually destroyed the format’s business model.

More:
https://www.mediaite.com/opinion/how-media-paved-the-way-for-trump-conservative-media-sells-out-and-the-msm-goes-along/

[underpants]

1. At least 50% of any real analysis of the election

Free advertising, you can't beat it. In fact Trump states that he was relying on free coverage during the period between effectively closing out the primaries and the nomination. Like Romney he'd run out of pre-nomination money.

The author states that the media tried to right the ship at the end but their constant "IT'S OVER" cries certainly effected turnout.

[duforsure]

2. By playing or promoting

His propaganda and lies they aided Putin and trump, and hurt this country.

[world wide wally]

3. $2 billion in free advertising