Back in November, just days after Donald Trump pulled off a political comeback for the ages, the MSNBC co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski of “Morning Joe” flew to Palm Beach to meet with the president-elect at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
“What we did agree on was to restart communications,” Scarborough said after the meeting. “We didn’t see eye to eye on a lot of issues, and we told him so.” Brzezinski added: “For those asking why we would speak to the president-elect during such fraught times, especially between us, I guess I would ask back, ‘Why wouldn’t we?'”
It was an astonishing 180 from the fiery clashes that defined the hosts’ relationship with Trump during the campaign, when Scarborough often compared his rhetoric to that of Adolf Hitler. The Mar-a-Lago meeting dominated the conversation on Media Twitter/X, catching the industry elite off guard and leaving many MSNBC viewers feeling betrayed.
But it also signaled a stark reality: for the media to endure the second coming of its biggest foil, a new playbook would be needed.
Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters in the spin room after debating Democratic presidential nominee, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, at Pennsylvania Convention Center on September 10, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
During Trump’s first term, the media coverage was all-encompassing, with newsrooms reacting to every incendiary tweet and controversial statement with a relishing that few other administrations received. Trump was an accidental president, the coverage often implied, owing his electoral luck to — take your pick — Russian trolls, Facebook, Wikileaks, Hillary Clinton‘s campaign strategy, or a football stadium’s worth of swing voters in three flyover states.
“In the first term, the media and political establishment often treated Trump as an aberration,” veteran journalist and former CNN Washington bureau chief Frank Sesno told Newsweek. “But Trump 2.0 is different. The country knew exactly what it was getting, and it voted for him anyway. This is not a fluke; it’s a choice.”
That choice has forced the mainstream media, of which this outlet is a card-carrying member, into a more nuanced era of coverage. The old tactics of outraged reaction to every Trump comment may no longer resonate, especially in an age of waning public trust. Gallup’s latest survey on institutional credibility paints a grim picture: the mainstream media is now America’s least trusted institution, ranking even below Congress.
That collapse in trust didn’t happen overnight. The rise of social media and alternative platforms like TikTok fractured the traditional media landscape, with audiences increasingly turning to niche voices for their news and information. Long-form podcasts and independent creators have gained immense influence, drawing viewers away from legacy outlets. Joe Rogan‘s podcast attracts more listeners than all three major network news broadcasts combined.
“Trump understood this shift better than anyone,” media analyst Brad Adgate told Newsweek, saying this fragmentation has rendered the media’s traditional gatekeeping role less effective. “These formats allow hours of unfiltered airtime without confrontation. The concern is that facts often get buried, and accountability disappears. But the results speak for themselves.”
The challenges for legacy media don’t stop with competition from podcasters and influencers. Even the stalwarts of American journalism are faltering. The Washington Post, under Jeff Bezos‘s ownership, faced internal turmoil after Bezos bigfooted the paper’s editorial board from endorsing Kamala Harris. That decision led to a wave of cancellations from the Post‘s liberal subscriber base and prompted eventual resignations from prominent left-wing columnists like Jennifer Rubin, while some of the paper’s high-profile reporters that made their name during the first Trump term also headed for the door. The Post’s digital traffic, meanwhile, has collapsed — going from 22.5 million daily active users in 2021 to about three million in 2024, according to internal data obtained by Semafor.
Mark Zuckerberg on Joe Rogan’s podcast last week. The Meta CEO has been in the process of a personal and professional pivot rightward in the wake of the election.
Joe Rogan/Instagram
Meanwhile, the tech titans reshaping how Americans consume information are embracing a new ethos of “free speech absolutism.” Elon Musk‘s stewardship of what was once called Twitter has amplified conservative voices, while Mark Zuckerberg‘s Meta made headlines last week by suddenly scrapping its fact-checking program and DEI initiatives. If the subtext there was not clear, Zuckerberg followed up with a three-hour conversation on Rogan ‘sshow in which he publicly unloaded on the Biden administration.
Adapting to a New Reality
Amid mounting challenges, one question looms over the media landscape: will Trump’s return reignite the “Trump bump” that once drove record ratings and traffic, or has the country moved on from the hair-on-fire coverage of his first term?
“There’s a fatigue factor,” said media analyst Brad Adgate. “People know Trump’s story, and they’re not as captivated as they were in 2016.”
The skepticism is shared by Sesno, the CNN veteran, who emphasized the need for a recalibrated approach. “There needs to be less fulmination and more emphasis on methodical coverage of what Trump is actually doing and the consequences,” he told Newsweek.
This recalibration was on full display when Time magazine named Trump its 2024 Person of the Year in December. Sam Jacobs, Time‘s editor-in-chief, made the announcement on NBC‘s Today show, describing Trump as someone who “for better or for worse, had the most influence on the news in 2024.”
“This is someone who made a historic comeback, reshaped the American presidency, and is reordering American politics,” Jacobs said.
Congratulations to President @realDonaldTrump and his Family on your remarkable achievement. This has now become a time of great promise for our nation, and we look forward to working together to drive American success and prosperity for all. May Gd Bless The United States of… pic.twitter.com/KVDRnOuBNC
— Marc Benioff (@Benioff) November 7, 2024
Marc Benioff, the tech billionaire who bought Time in 2018, posted mock magazine covers slamming Kamala Harris for refusing to sit with the outlet while congratulating Trump on his “remarkable achievement.” It was a notable shift in tone for Time, which had previously leaned into provocative covers and pointed editorial critiques of Trump.
Tuning Out
While print outlets are adjusting their coverage approach ahead of the inauguration next week, cable news networks—once the powerhouses setting the political agenda in Washington—are struggling to find their footing in an evolving media landscape. On Tuesday, MSNBC’s president Rashida Jones stepped down in the wake of the network’s collapsing ratings post-election.
MSNBC host Rachel Maddow will return to the struggling network five nights a week for the start of the second Trump term. Maddow’s nightly focus on the now-debunked Russia collusion story was an integral part of the media’s coverage of the first Trump administration.
Courtesy MSNBC
In a bold bid to recapture its liberal audience, MSNBC is leaning on star power, bringing Rachel Maddow back to her 9 p.m. slot five nights a week for Trump’s first 100 days. “It’s a savvy move but also an acknowledgment of MSNBC’s recent ratings woes,” said media analyst Liam Reilly.
The lessons of the 2024 election extend beyond prime-time scheduling. Recognizing the dominance of podcasts in shaping public discourse, MSNBC announced a new podcast hosted by Jen Psaki, a former Biden press secretary who now hosts a show on the network, and expanded its digital-first programming. Meanwhile, Fox News is adopting a “Rogan-style” format with a fresh lineup, including Will Cain’s new 4 p.m. program that is set to replace the show hosted by recently departed veteran anchor Neil Cavuto.
Despite these shifts, the media faces a grim reality: audiences may just no longer be as engaged with Trump — or the traditional media — as they once were. According to Digiday, news publishers have seen a much smaller traffic boost compared to previous election periods, a trend driven by growing “news fatigue” and the rise of independent content creators on platforms like YouTube and Substack.
“A lot has changed since 2016,” Sesno observed. “The media has long struggled with credibility, and the rise of the internet and social media has only accelerated its decline.”
The challenge for the mainstream media now is not just to cover Trump but to reinvent how they deliver news in an era where trust is fractured, attention is fleeting and audiences are increasingly tuning out.
This post was originally published on here
