11.6

Who really gets rich in politics?

As we ramp-up toward the 2020 election, the ads are starting to pour in. It is widely accepted in America that there is too much money in Politics. Yet while many believe that our public servants are the ones that stand to profit, the true prospectors in this here political gold-rush are the media companies. If we look at the midterm elections from last year, we can see that each media conglomerate posted double digit profits off campaign ads. We’re talking big bucks here: reports of midterm ad spending in 2018 showed Comcast with 15% increase in the second quarter alone. Digital ad purchases topped $1.7 billion last year. And these are numbers for a non-presidential election year!

Which, by the way, is why the media loves Donald Trump.

Donald Trump is a cash cow for The numbers bear this out: The ratings for the 2016 Democratic primary debates are in, and the highest viewership came in at 18.1 million, which set a record for a Democratic primary. For the Democrats, this looked like great news - it was evidence that they were engaging voters. But when we look at the numbers for the first Republican debate, we see what America really loves is the Trump-fueled shit-show. Trump’s first debate garnered a whopping 24 million viewers. Numbers like these are a mind boggling opportunity for media companies who are motivated by dollar signs, not political awakenings. They may not say it - they may say the very opposite -, but all media companies are loving the Trump presidency. It’s big business.

Love him or hate him, Donald Trump has reshaped the landscape for political television, where, like any other business, the goal is always growth and higher profits. The question becomes, how do you keep that going without a dumpster fire like Donald Trump?

I am not a political guru by any means, but I understand business. I know how companies operate, I understand the model they follow and how efficiency works. Less input to get greater or equal output. Donald Trump represents that lowest input needed for media companies to generate astronomical output. One man is creating a new frontier in political media coverage and the question I have is: how can we continue to allow this? We are the patsies in this: we glom onto the next story, the next sound bite, the next moment for outrage. Sure, a lot of what is being talked about is important, but the way we are consuming our information is simply encouraging the power of money over politics. I don’t know what the answer is, but I do know that as long as there's gold in them there hills, that these here prospectors will stop at nothing to get it.

November 6th, 2019 / Seymour