The US Media Shake-Up After Trump’s Win

Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 presidential election has sparked quite a few changes in the mainstream media world in the US—it’s shaking up newsrooms and how news is watched.

Cable News Gets Divided

After the election results, cable news is witnessing big shifts in its viewership. According to media commentator Mediaite , and a report by OutKick , Fox News viewership jumped up by 60%, hitting an average of 2.6 million viewers whereas MSNBC and CNN took a hit. MSNBC’s primetime audience fell by 54%, and CNN saw a 40% drop overall. Shows like Alex Wagner’s and Chris Hayes’s on MSNBC hit their lowest ratings ever. MSNBC and CNN, once go-to sources for left-leaning news, are fighting hard to keep their audiences engaged. Only time will tell whether this is a trend for communication professionals to watch out for shortly or if it is just a temporary dip due to the election results.

Changing Editorial Strategies

Some media outlets are rethinking their approaches. @The Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong announced on X changes to the editorial board aiming to separate news from opinion and include different viewpoints. This is a big shift from the paper’s past, where it leaned more progressive. Before the election, the editorial team was ready to endorse Kamala Harris, but that seems to be changing after the Republican win. This move indicates that media companies do realize that they can’t just cater to one side anymore. “If we just have one side, it becomes nothing but an echo chamber,” he said according to an article published by The Hollywood Reporter . This change shows the media’s need to balance stories and cover different perspectives to appeal to a larger set of audience.

Social Media Embraces Political Identities

More influencers and businesses are now confident in openly showing conservative views. Wearing a “MAGA hat” isn’t seen as bad for a brand anymore. This trend shows that political identities are becoming a bigger part of our culture and businesses.

Influencers and media commentators on YouTube may have played a major part in this election, which is also being referred to as a Podcast election. October 2024 data from an intelligence firm Tubular Labs and reported by TVREV , paints a clear picture of how Americans consume news online. News and political media creators in the U.S. generated a whopping 2.6 billion views on YouTube in the month. The most-viewed news videos were 5 to 10 minutes long, amassing 549 million views, but longer videos (20+ minutes) also attracted a significant audience with 512 million views, underscoring the demand for more in-depth content.

According mobile analytics firm Appfigures , the decentralized social media platform and X competitor Bluesky Social experienced a significant surge in user adoption, adding over 1 million new users within just a week. This increase has propelled its total user base to more than 15 million, up from approximately 13 million at the end of October 2024. Many users are migrating from X, expressing dissatisfaction with the platform's direction under Elon Musk, particularly following his overt support for President-elect Donald Trump and the rise of harmful content on X as reported in an article by TechCrunch . Furthermore during November alone, Threads , added 15 million users and, during the past three months, more than one million per day, according to the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri .

In another interesting development, The Guardian decided to quit X all together by calling it a "toxic platform."

Fake News

Fake news continued to be a major source of disinformation during the past few months. Since September 2024, approximately?91 false election narratives?have been published, with an average of?six new false claims?emerging each week. This data is from research and intelligence agency NewsGuard , which monitored misinformation related to the elections. Their researchers also identified around?361 websites?actively promoting false narratives about the elections. This proliferation of fake news sites contributed to a significant erosion of trust in traditional media sources, which must rethink their strategy in terms of agility, authenticity, on-ground reporting, and fact-based reporting.

Looking Ahead

The 2024 US elections have shown that the global media landscape is changing fast. Audiences are more divided and picky about what they watch. Networks like CNN and MSNBC need to find new ways to keep their viewers interested. Meanwhile, Fox News is thriving, matching the shifting political views of its audience but, will face tough competition from independent influencers podcasting using platforms like YouTube and Rumble .

For businesses and communicators, the message is clear: diversify your perspectives and adapt to cultural changes to stay relevant. As the media adjusts to these shifts, it raises questions: Are we seeing more polarization, or could this lead to a more balanced and fair journalism landscape?

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