OPINION:
The Republican presidential primary season is effectively over, and whether voters like it or not, the Trump-Biden rematch is largely set. From the moment Donald Trump came down the gold escalator in 2015, the left-wing corporate media has been on the attack.
But now that he’s the Republican nominee for the third time, could that change? It’s a question likely driving at least some boardroom conversations right now as networks and major news outlets prepare for the political fight ahead.
Mr. Trump is pure television gold. Unlike President Biden, who went from the basement in 2020 to thin public schedules and naps in the White House residence, Mr. Trump will bring energy, press conferences, access and breaking news events back to the presidency. There will be sparring with the media, quotable one-liners, quips and, yes, new nicknames for banner waves on cable news.
Even late-night television’s left-wing hosts will have fodder for monologues and not worry about offending their younger audiences.
Of course, there will be the conspiracy theories, reams of new stories about Mr. Trump being a threat to democracy, and perhaps even another round of Russia, Russia, Russia.
With a second Trump presidency, arguably more people will be watching MSNBC, reading the New York Times and subscribing to the Washington Post. CNN, which has seen its ratings collapse as they moved further to the left, could even see a revival.
With more people watching, advertisers pay more, and beleaguered news divisions that are laying off hundreds have a chance to crawl their way into the black.
A second Trump administration also means an open seat for wall-to-wall election coverage and advertising in 2028 worth billions.
Don’t think this decision-making isn’t happening. Journalism is a business. It’s always been a business. It’s always been about getting eyeballs, selling papers and subscriptions and driving ad sales revenue. Certainly, as legitimate journalism has been largely abandoned for advocacy in left-wing newsrooms, driving socialist, atheist and anti-American agendas, business considerations have been supplanted. That’s had real financial consequences.
It’s a genuine conundrum behind the scenes of the fake news. Provide fairer coverage to Mr. Trump and make their bottom lines great again, or continue to ride the left-wing advocacy toward balance sheets dripping with red.
A second Joe Biden term will certainly provide the media with an ideological victory. There will be more woke, more socialist policies, more outrage, and more working overtime to explain away the disengagement of an increasingly pliant leader who is failing both mentally and physically.
However, as the data have shown over the last few years, that won’t make for engaging photos, video, and content. That would derive viewers and readers.
True, there may even be a mid-term resignation, giving the nation the first woman president, Kamala Harris, who checks a whole bunch of intersectionality boxes. The nation’s top DEI hire, actually becoming president, would be a real story. Right now, media executives are likely plotting out that scenario as part of this big editorial decision, to be sure.
The other choice, perhaps even more immediate, is encouraging a floor flight at the Democrat National Convention in Chicago to replace Mr. Biden with a younger, more electable nominee.
The media could choose to fuel a fight within the Democratic Party that yields a candidate they will no doubt frame as a new, exciting figure in the party. Hours of airtime and innumerable column inches would then be dedicated to this political rags-to-riches story.
That would be compelling. It would drive interest and coverage, even among Republican and Conservative voters. It could also be a significant threat to Mr. Trump.
As the longest general election in American presidential campaigns gets underway, despite the epidemic of Trump Derangement Syndrome among the press, producers, writers and editors might just get the memo to back off, even just a bit, in the hopes of a big return to the glory days when they can frame every utterance from the White House was a looming catastrophe.
Time will tell how the left’s parrots in the press and Big Tech will decide to handle 2024.
Of course, Americans have a choice, too, in all this. They can keep abandoning legacy corporate media in favor of independent, honest journalism - or at least what’s left of it.
• Tom Basile is the host of “America Right Now” on Newsmax Television and a columnist with The Washington Times.
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