Regardless of the final vote, the biggest loser in this election may be the legacy media.

In the sweltering days of summer 2020, as Donald Trump contemplated a second term, his aides quietly chatted with members of the emerging digital media about a bold idea.

The goal was to bypass traditional media, which monopolized White House Correspondents’ Association White House press room and lay out “conventional wisdom,” such as the false narrative of collusion with Russia.

Instead, aides wanted to build a new press center in the old Executive Office Building, where the new media, free of the clique mentality of the outdated press, could hold briefings, have access to the president, and thrive.

If there was a stumbling block to that summer of discontent, it was how the public might react to such an idea.

Four years, four indictments, two assassinations, an impeachment on January 6 and a massive dose of bogus and biased reporting later, American voters appear to be demanding such changes.

Especially given the constant stream of revelations about stories that had been suppressed, such as concerns about Joe Biden’s mental acuity early in the election or Hunter Biden’s laptop.

“There was a time, in my life, in your life, when reporters took pride in breaking stories and being the first to inform their listeners,” said Rep. Glen Grothman, a Wisconsin Republican. Just news on Monday. “That’s not what’s happening. Now the reporter’s goal seems to be to suppress stories. And you know, our country cannot continue like this.”

The congressman, whose state is a hotly contested state in this election, said he felt during the campaign that ordinary Americans felt the same way he did.

“I’ve been to two Donald Trump rallies in the last week. The phrase that gets the most applause is when Donald Trump calls fake news, that is, the mainstream media,” Grothman said. “If this hadn’t been true when I was a kid, the mainstream media would have cared what people thought about it. Maybe they don’t care.

Polls confirm lack of trust in media

A Gallup poll released last month that a record low 31% of voters expressed “a great deal” or “fair degree” of confidence that the media reports news “completely, accurately and fairly,” while a larger 36% expressed no trust at all in traditional media information. coverage in newspapers, television and radio. Another third expressed “not much” trust in professional media. Gallup noted that the trend toward increasingly unpopular media has been building for years, dating back to the Trump era, if not before.

The 2024 election offered traditional media reporters a chance to reverse the decline. Instead they doubled coverage so anti-Trump(85% according to the Media Research Center) and were slanted and inaccurate, which worsened public opinion.

Links “fact-checked” candidates to inaccurate information. Headlines, town halls and articles revealed a clear bias toward Democrats and against Republicans. And reporters pulled off one of the biggest reversals in American election history when – after months of insisting that President Biden had no cognitive impairment – they finally had to admit that Old Joe was, well, old, forgetful and confused after disastrous June debate with Trump.

Documents unearthed by Congress last year also revealed that media censorship of the Hunter Biden laptop story in late 2020 was based on false information and an influence campaign directly linked to Joe Biden campaign advisers who assembled puppet “intelligence specialists” “such as NewsGuard’s General Hayden shamelessly played along with this ruse. And the rest of the traditional media followed suit, ignoring such alarm bells.

In other words, the October 2020 surprise was exposed as so fake that it likely made the electorate immune to another “surprise” four years later in this election cycle.

Perhaps most importantly, pollsters say, there is some evidence that voters are moving beyond legacy media into a new era of data consumption and storytelling that gives traditional reporters less attention.

“I think for traditional media, this is an election that we’ll look back on and say this is where they lost the narrative,” said veteran pollster Scott Rasmussen. Just news. “You know, for most of my life… it felt like there were a couple of networks that really dominated, a couple of media outlets that really dominated coverage, and that doesn’t happen anymore.

Sermon to the choir

“New York Times can say whatever they want, and whatever readers they already agree with, they have no ability to influence or control the narrative,” he added. “And so I think that will be the end result and the media in general. There’s very little confidence in that right now.”

Signs of the dangers of the media have emerged in recent days at two prominent newsrooms, where reporters threw tantrums when their owners or bosses did not allow them to shape the narrative in their own way.

At first it was Washington Post The house where America’s famous Watergate scandal was exposed has become a place where reporters rebel en masse to the decision not to support Kamala Harris or any candidate they prefer for that matter.

The tantrum cost the newspaper 250,000 subscribers, but it did not sway its owner, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who responded publishing an article in your own newspaper this gave his troops a harsh assessment of his troops. “Americans don’t trust the media” Bezos’ headline thundered.

“In fact, the President’s endorsement creates a perception of bias,” Bezos wrote. “Perception of non-independence. Putting an end to them is a fundamental decision, and it is the right one.”

Despite the objections of reporters who consider them anointed “kingmakers”, publishers of other major newspapers such as USA today And Los Angeles Times made similar decisions to deny approval.

Reporters Kneel Before Far-Left Influencers

IN New York TimesA separate tantrum erupted in a newsroom meeting where Joe Kahn, the executive editor, refused to let his reporters know that his paper wasn’t tough enough on Trump.

What’s most surprising is that the reporters’ anger stemmed not from concerns expressed in middle America, but rather from the far-left views of the Democratic Party, according to The transcript of the noisy meeting in the editorial office was published on Monday by Semafor.

“Criticism from the left — basically saying, ‘You’re not being direct enough about what Trump says and does — has been very loud in recent weeks,” said news staffer Jodi Kantor. “We wanted to ask you more directly: does this criticism matter to you and how do you interpret criticism of New York TimesWhen will this be useful? she asked.

“No, honestly, just no,” Kahn replied. “I’m very good at getting all these incoming messages in my inbox and in a lot of the conversations I have. And I understand that this was criticism of us.” He continued: “This is not about responding to criticism from the left.”

The conversation highlighted a dynamic that many experts say is plaguing traditional media: Its current generation of reporters are taught more about personal branding than personal branding in journalism schools. duty to “seek and report the truth” and as such were captured by leftist elites. As a result, they have failed to engage independents and conservatives on issues that matter to them. Even conservatives whose profession requires them to deal with the media are tired of this dynamic.

“The media in general has lost a lot of credibility,” New York pollster John McLaughlin, whose clients include Trump, told J.just news.

“But there are people, you know, they are looking for the truth and just news. And there’s a lot of other media that’s trying to come out that’s trying to be honest, you know, and that’s all it is. They want justice,” McLaughlin added in the interview. John Solomon Reports podcast.

The failure—or at least the perception of failure—to provide such fairness and impartiality may convince historians that the legacy media was the biggest loser in this election. It could also embolden Trump, if he wins, to implement the plan hatched in the summer of 2020.