If Kamala Harris wins the U.S. presidential election it will be in spite of the U.S. news media. If Donald Trump is elected, he will have been assisted by the news media, which has consistently acted as a springboard for brand Trump. Either way, in this nail-bitingly tight race, the role of the media is going to be pivotal to the outcome.
What Donald Trump seems to understand better than anyone is the critical role that mere brand recognition plays in voters' choices. And almost no cost is too high for him to obtain it. “There is no bad press unless you are a pedophile”, Trump reportedly once told his advisors. This scandal-reliant, news-sticky strategy has made him extremely successful in using the news media to strengthen his brand.
