It was obvious throughout the campaign that Donald Trump’s lie-a-minute approach had captured the heart of the media. He Gish-galloped his way from one story to the next, with headlines breathlessly reporting his every word, but rarely getting past the surface of any outrageous statement before Trump was on to the next.
Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton made the mistake of giving substantive speeches that refused to answer complex issues with impossible promises, and failed to say things that were clear violations of the law and reason. Entertainment value? Nil.
The Washington Post put together a graph of the results.
Not only did Trump dominate coverage throughout the election, there were several periods when Trump grabbed almost all the headlines. Even during the DNC, Hillary Clinton barely achieved parity, while during the RNC Trump was regularly netting 80 percent of coverage.
The only points where Clinton saw a significant spike in coverage? Comey, illness, and Comey. So the only message that rose above the noise when it came to Clinton? She’s crooked and ill. Nothing else even reached the surface.
The post-election analysis from the press? Blame the candidates for not spending more time on policy. But based on these results, election 2020 will be conducted only by screaming and waving a bloody knife.