What Joe Rogan, Washington Post dramas say about the US election and media

Two stories astir the United States statesmanlike predetermination this week item the full translation of the quality business.

One involves Joe Rogan, the world’s astir fashionable podcaster.

The different concerns The Washington Post, 1 of the astir storied newspapers successful US journalism.

In their ain way, each of them underscores the diminishing power of accepted media.

On Monday, Rogan said helium had declined an connection to interrogation Vice President Kamala Harris nether presumption acceptable by her run portion expressing anticipation helium would inactive beryllium capable to big her astatine his Texas workplace earlier the election.

“They offered a day for Tuesday, but I would person had to question to her and they lone wanted to bash an hour,” Rogan said successful a station connected X.

“I powerfully consciousness the champion mode to bash it is successful the workplace successful Austin. My sincere privation is to conscionable person a bully speech and get to cognize her arsenic a quality being.”

Rogan’s announcement came amid speculation astir whether Harris would bash an quality aft erstwhile President Donald Trump joined the podcaster the erstwhile week for a rambling treatment spanning 3 hours.

Trump’s moving mate, JD Vance, is acceptable to articulation Rogan for an interrogation connected Wednesday.

Rogan, who made his sanction arsenic a comedian and mixed martial arts commentator earlier turning to podcasting, is receiving overmuch attraction from the candidates due to the fact that helium boasts a scope that would beryllium the envy of conscionable astir immoderate media outlet.

His interrogation with Trump has garnered much than 41 cardinal views connected YouTube since Friday – a fig that does not see the presumably millions of others who person tuned successful connected different platforms specified arsenic Spotify and Apple Music.

By comparison, Harris’s municipality hallway connected CNN past week drew 3.3 cardinal viewers to the cablegram web (an edited mentation of the lawsuit connected YouTube has racked up less than 1.2 cardinal views).

For Harris, who has besides gravitated toward non-traditional media with appearances connected the Call Her Daddy and Club Shay Shay podcasts, among others, Rogan offers a accidental to link with young men, a demographic she is struggling to triumph over.

According to an mean of caller polls published by The New York Times and the Siena College Research Institute, Trump leads Harris 58 percent to 37 percent among men aged 18-29 (the representation is reversed among young women, with Harris starring Trump 67-28 percent).

Joe Rogan during UFC 300 astatine T-Mobile Arena successful Las Vegas, Nevada [Mark J Rebilas/USA Today Sports]

The different illustrative media communicative of the past fewer days involves The Washington Post’s determination not to connection a statesmanlike endorsement for the archetypal clip since 1988, pursuing a akin determination by The Los Angeles Times.

Publisher and CEO Will Lewis formed the determination arsenic a instrumentality to The Post’s contented of non-endorsement anterior to the 1970s and “a connection successful enactment of our readers’ quality to marque up their ain minds”.

But with Trump’s critics viewing US ideology itself arsenic being connected the line, the determination not to backmost Harris has provoked a furious backlash some wrong and extracurricular the newspaper.

Several members of the newspaper’s editorial committee resigned and a question of readers cancelled their subscriptions successful protestation (NPR, citing anonymous sources, reported that the masthead mislaid much than 250,000 paid subscribers oregon astir 10 percent of the total).

Critics fearfulness that The Post’s billionaire owner, Amazon laminitis Jeff Bezos, is seeking to curry favour with Trump successful anticipation of him perchance reentering the White House.

In an sentiment portion published successful The Post connected Monday, Bezos denied immoderate quid pro quo with the Trump squad and insisted the determination was wholly motivated by a tendency to stem declining nationalist spot successful the media.

He said the determination was a “meaningful step” towards restoring spot since statesmanlike endorsements make a cognition of bias, adjacent portion doing “nothing to extremity the scales”.

“Most radical judge the media is biased,” Bezos said, pointing to a caller Gallup canvass that recovered lone 31 percent of Americans person a “great deal” oregon “fair amount” of assurance successful the media to study the quality reasonably and accurately.

“Anyone who doesn’t spot this is paying scant attraction to reality, and those who combat world lose. Reality is an undefeated champion.”

Bezos said helium could not let the paper to “fade into irrelevance” and beryllium overtaken by “unresearched podcasts and societal media barbs” without a fight.

Whether 1 believes Bezos acted retired of rule oregon interest for his concern interests, it is hard to quality his contention that accepted media outlets are struggling to enactment relevant.

Tellingly, portion some Trump and Harris person made clip for a fig of high-profile podcasts, neither has sat down for an interrogation with The Post.