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Cooper also gave Harris space to talk about her upbringing in a way that adds context to those policy positions, which some conservative voices might downplay as softball pandering. Some of those same voices have praised Trump’s tour of the podcasting and YouTube “manoverse,” as the New York Times calls it, as a brilliant strategy to court the young male vote.
For a better understanding of why this biographical touch matters, on Monday NPR political reporter Elena Moore posted these audience stats from Edison Research on X: Edison Research: 76% of Cooper’s audience is under 35.
Almost of quarter of her listeners identify as Republican, with a fifth identifying as Independent. Her geographical breakdown is even more telling, with 34% percent of her listenership hailing from southern (read: red) states and 20% living in the swingy Midwest.
A common critique of Harris’ decision to appear on “Call Her Daddy” is the data-informed assumption that Harris has the votes of young women locked up. Within Cooper’s audience, surely, are a few persuadable undecideds who may determine which way this close election breaks.
Harris is telling voters who she is in the broadest way possible.
Between this and the fact that, as Cooper explained in her introduction, she generally declines interview offers from politicians, this interview allowed Harris to reach potential voters who don’t watch CNN or MSNBC, where she was interviewed by Stephanie Ruhle — or “60 Minutes” for that matter.
It’s the same reason a visit to “The View” is key to reassuring suburban women and a pass-through “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” has more personal introductory value than a wonky policy deep-dive on Sunday morning public affairs shows.
For that matter, it also explains why Harris appeared on “All the Smoke,” a podcast hosted by former NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, as well as fielding questions from NABJ member journalists. It explains why she chatted with Spanish-language podcaster Stephanie Himonidis Sedano for an episode of “Chiquibaby Show” weeks before her Univision town hall, and spoke with an anchor from Philadelphia’s local ABC-affiliated news station WPVI before facing CBS News’ Whitaker.
Harris is telling voters who she is in the broadest way possible by circumventing the so-called “traditional” media wall to address specific constituencies inadequately served by mainstream news.
The public is justified in wanting substantive answers from both candidates seeking their votes. Harris is spinning her version of fulfilling that mandate, meeting potential voters on their turf, and consenting to participate in enough legacy news interviews to counter accusations of inaccessibility.
It’s not what broader media may want, but it is an informational reality brought on by a decline in journalistic trust accelerated by Trump eight years ago. Similar to the way Harris’ team is drawing on his promotional playbook to turn the tide in her favor, maybe her critics should examine what worked about Cooper’s approach to craft more useful conversations with and about those seeking power.
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Publish date : 2024-10-07 23:34:00
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