The 2024 Election and the Changing Definition of ‘The Media’

Former President Donald Trump’s decisive victory in the 2024 Presidential Election has ushered in new questions for candidates and campaigns about messaging strategies and how to reach people. Arguments over policy choices and turnout versus persuasion will still be core to elections, but one thing is clear: “the media” is no longer solely legacy outlets.

Social media influencers and podcast hosts may not be journalists, but they are just as much a part of the media landscape as correspondents, columnists and editors. While trust is declining in legacy media, the impact of podcast hosts and influencers is growing.

Media habits have changed. More Americans are getting their news from digital channels, especially social media and YouTube. Podcasts are growing in popularity as a source of news and serve as an essential touchstone to culture. The 2024 Election may go down as the “podcast election.”

The Power of Podcasts

While the Biden campaign experimented with its own podcast during the 2020 campaign, and political podcasts like “Pod Save America” or “The Ben Shapiro Show” have been popular with politically-minded audiences for years now, both candidates in 2024 sought out podcasts that were more apolitical or politically adjacent.

President-Elect Trump earned the endorsement of podcast host Joe Rogan, which young voters in Arizona credited with impacting their votes, according to NBC News. In the closing days of the race, Elon Musk joined “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast to discuss the race and once again pitch listeners on voting for Trump. Vice President Kamala Harris appeared on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, targeting young female voters. A week before the election, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff joined “The Ringer Fantasy Football Show” to make a plea to young male voters.

There’s an academic explanation for why this worked (or didn’t work) in the 2024 election—two-step flow theory. People have voices in their lives they trust as experts on specific issues. These influential voices help shape people’s opinions. Some of these influencers may have a broader area of trusted expertise. For example, Rogan can be seen as an expert by young men on how they fit into the world, which leaks into politics.

This same logic holds for social media influencers who discuss current events and news, an area where the lines between reporting and opinion are often blurred. Communicators should recognize that just because an audience sees an individual as a trusted expert on one subject does not mean they will see them as an expert on every subject. A former athlete may be influential on issues of sport, but a non-factor in the realm of politics.

A New Definition of Media

Knowing who an audience trusts and for what is essential to effective communication. And this landscape of trust is changing. Americans have long been losing the trust they once placed in major media outlets. According to Pew Research Center, both Republicans and adults under 30 are nearly as likely to trust news they receive through social media as they are to trust news received from national media. Americans have always had trusted opinion leaders, but whereas those leaders may have been a TV anchor, a reporter or a community leader in the past, today they are increasingly online influencers and podcast hosts.

But traditional media is far from being an afterthought. It remains essential, especially when targeting elite and mass audiences. Traditional media still often forms the foundation for what online influencers and podcast hosts will discuss. Legacy news organizations still have a strong agenda-setting power, increasing the salience of an issue or aspect of an issue for the public. But as media habits change, so should the definition communicators have of “media.”

Today’s media landscape is no longer just newspapers, radio and cable TV. It goes beyond blogs and newsletters by former journalists. Podcasters and social media influencers are the newest members of “the media.”

This new definition of media is a new challenge for public relations professionals. These new media members are often not journalists. They are not professionally trained or bound by a professional code of ethics. But they are trusted by their audiences, which presents a new opportunity for communicators to spread their message to a target audience through an earned channel.

Pitching New Voices

Communicators should be looking to take advantage of this new, broader media landscape. In media relations, strong relationships and a high-quality press list are two keys to success. Public relations practitioners should start expanding their understanding of the unique audiences various podcasts reach, gathering contact information for podcast producers and building relationships with them the same way they do for TV news bookers.

Effective communicators should ensure they pitch the right influencers and podcasters based on the stories these new media voices want to tell and what their audiences would find interesting—the same principles that should guide your outreach to reporters.

In an evolving digital era, the old media relations playbook isn’t dying. It’s expanding. Smart communicators will be able to take advantage of this for their companies and their clients.

Samuel Smith is Manager at strategic communications firm Seven Letter.