How Donald Trump (and Twitter) killed the media

“As you know, I have a running war with the media. They are among the most dishonest human beings on Earth.” - President Donald J. Trump

At every turn, the president attempts to discredit the relevant information the public sphere is supposed to spread. Trump’s mantra-turned-punchline “fake news” is applied not by validity or relevancy, but by what flatters him. He regularly slanders “mainstream media,” which seemingly includes every major network and publication with the notable exception of Fox News (Warren, 2017). If the media truly is the gatekeeper in the marketplace of ideas, how can a man who so readily alienates them win the election?

We are witnessing a dramatic shift in the public sphere. Trump is tapping into a new source of power: social media. His personal Twitter account boasts over 39 million followers, making him the 23rd most followed user worldwide (“Donald J. Trump,” 2017). The possibilities of this kind of power are certainly well understood by Trump. For the first time in history, the president can speak directly to the American people without any barriers. While past presidents were forced to rely on the media for radio and television slots, social media eliminates the middleman to create a space where the president can make a statement at any time, for any reason (“The Trump Tweet Tracker,” 2016).

Trump doesn’t need the media like other presidents have. Considering how poorly the media often portrays him, it makes total sense why he claims to be “at war” with them. But Trump isn’t using Twitter in the ways we would expect from a world leader. He takes advantage of the fact that his audience — his followers — largely consists of those who support him. He can tweet his policies, opinions, and personal attacks on those who oppose him and receive instant gratification. Between June 2015, when Trump entered the election, and December of the same year, the president tweeted 6,348 times with 11% of those classified as insults (Schwartzman and Johnson, 2015). However, this 11% makes up almost one million of his over three-and-a-half million retweets he received in this time frame (Phillips, 2015).

This is where Trump’s power ultimately resides. Going through traditional media channels with his often aggressive or braggadocious messages is taboo — it isn’t for lack of trying, but his rhetoric often falls flat during these opportunities when hosts question or even confront him. Twitter is a sphere where Trump is the authority. If the assumption is made that followers are a measure of credibility, there are only 22 people with more Twitter “ethos” than him. He receives tangible, immediate feedback from those who support him in the form of favorites and retweets. In reality, tweets can be much further reaching than just his supporters. For every inflammatory thing Trump tweets, there waits a gaggle of reporters, journalists, and angry citizens ready to refute whatever he says. In the end, his supporters don’t care. Trump is championing a truth through a candid maliciousness that most politicians are afraid to state (Barbaro, 2015).

It’s worth noting that Trump has a method to his madness in the way of tweeting, especially those directed at his opponents (Hess, 2016). In a article written by Amanda Hess (2016), the author claims “his most Trump-ian tweets manage to hit upon all three of Aristotle’s modes of persuasion: logos (the appeal to logic), ethos (the appeal to credibility), and pathos (the appeal to emotion).” Take the following Trump tweet:

“Lying Cruz put out a statement, ‘Trump & Rubio are w/Obama on gay marriage.’ Cruz is the worst liar, crazy or very dishonest. Perhaps all 3?”

Trump starts by immediately questioning Cruz’s ethos, calling him a liar. He then proceeds into a statement of fact, or logos, by repeating a statement by Cruz. To finish, Trump again knocks Cruz’s ethos by calling him a crazy, dishonest liar. Although pathos may not have been directly engaged, Trump uses it quite effectively here. The American people, specifically Trump’s supporters, are highly fearful of dishonest politicians. Trump’s whole campaign rode on the perception that he told it like it was (Barbaro, 2015).

According to Eric Popkin, a 53-year-old man who regularly engages with Trump on Twitter by creating graphics that endorse his messages, supporting Trump “[is] like a sports team. If you are from New York, and you like the Jets or Giants and somebody is bad-mouthing your team, there is kind of knee-jerk reaction to defend them. We have an emotional connection to him. It’s good old human nature.” This emotional connection defines much of Trump’s base (Barbaro, 2015). Though some tweets gain more traction than others, his base largely supports him unconditionally. When he takes a misstep with a tweet, he adapts and refrains from repeating the same message again, through tweets or otherwise. But when Trump scores a tweet that resonates with his followers, he incorporates it outside the world of Twitter in his rallies and in the media.

Trump leaves an important part of the equation out: what do those who don’t support him think of his tweets? Based on polling, 71% of registered voters believe Trump’s tweets hurt his agenda, while only 17% think it helps him (Blanton, 2017). However, Trump’s power is derived mostly from his core voters. Due in some part to how the media portrays him, most people against Trump will not change their minds on based on his tweets (Warren, 2017). Instead of using Twitter to broaden his appeal, he uses it to strengthen his connection with those already supporting him (Schwartzman and Johnson, 2015).

The internet is the next frontier of the public sphere. Donald Trump has mastered the realm of Twitter, a platform where there is no barrier between the audience and the rhetor. He has established a level of credibility with his followers in which they take his often misguided or incorrect messages as fact. Already powerful men like Trump carry their influence over into the world of Twitter where influence is the only factor, and the way Trump uses Twitter is even more entertainment-based than television. Both Gore and Trump seek to change how we consume media, but Trump was able to shape it enough to become president.

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References

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Barbaro, M. (2015, October 05). Pithy, Mean and Powerful: How Donald Trump Mastered Twitter for 2016. Retrieved September 24, 2017, from https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/06/us/politics/donald-trump-twitter-use-campaign-2016.html

Blanton, D. (2017, June 29). Fox News Poll: Voters say Trump's tweets hurting agenda. Retrieved September 24, 2017, from http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/06/29/fox-news-poll-voters-say-trumps-tweets-hurting-agenda.html

Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) Twitter Stats. (2017, September 24). Retrieved September 24, 2017, from https://twittercounter.com/realDonaldTrump

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Hess, A. (2016, February 18). Everyone Knows Trump Is the Best on Social Media. Here’s Why. Retrieved September 24, 2017, from http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2016/02/donald_trump_is_the_best_at_twitter_here_s_why.html

Phillips, A. (2015, December 10). The surprising genius of Donald Trump’s Twitter account. Retrieved September 24, 2017, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/12/10/reading-6000-of-his-tweets-has-convinced-us-donald-trump-is-a-social-media-master/?utm_term=.d379b1e6517c

Price, G. (2017, July 12). A new study suggests Twitter posts and WikiLeaks help Trump beat Clinton on Election Day. Retrieved September 24, 2017, from http://www.newsweek.com/wikileaks-trump-twitter-clinton-635506

Schwartzman, P., & Johnson, J. (2015, December 09). It's not chaos. It's Trump's campaign strategy. Retrieved September 24, 2017, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/its-not-chaos-its-trumps-campaign-strategy/2015/12/09/9005a5be-9d68-11e5-8728-1af6af208198_story.html?hpid=hp_rhp-top-table-main_trumpmethod-750pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.60d5a4939fc9