BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Are media outlets taking a different approach to covering a second Trump presidency?
That's what host Tom Shortell asks political scientist Chris Borick on this week's episode of Political Pulse.
"That doesn't mean that, you know, major outlets are pulling punches with their coverage or changing what they're covering," Borick said. "But the broader dynamic, the relationship between how these major companies relate to the Trump administration is strikingly different."
Borick said the shifting relationship doesn't set a precedent as much as it depicts the impact or "concentrated power" of large media outlets.
"What we've seen so different this time, I think, is when those things come together in a cocktail where you have an administration in the form of President Trump's administration and the people he's appointed to various positions — including at the FCC — that are really willing to leverage that in a direct way that aligns with their partisan views, what they want, what they think should be, should be covered," Borick said. "And these companies that want to make profit, they're big shareholder driven companies that have a bottom line."
The Trump administration has also changed how media can cover political events, Borick noted. With all these shifts, could it change the future of media coverage and presidential relations?
"I got to believe to a degree," Borick said. "Now, the Trump administration often takes things to new levels.
"So we might see a regression to the mean in some ways, and depending on who wins, of course, in the next administration."
