After Trump's election victory Americans are no longer interested in political news
Following Donald Trump's election victory, many US citizens are less interested in media coverage of politics. This is not a new phenomenon for TV broadcasters.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- US Americans' interest in political news has fallen dramatically following Donald Trump's election victory.
- According to a survey, Americans generally want less political content.
- The phenomenon is particularly pronounced among Democrats.
- Around seven in ten Democrats said they were distancing themselves from political news.
Democrat Ziad Aunallah was very intensively involved with political news during the recent US presidential election campaign. But now he feels like many other US citizens after the November election: he has lost interest in the news. "People are mentally exhausted," said the 45-year-old from San Diego in the US state of California. "Everyone knows what's coming and we're just taking a break."
Television viewing figures and a new survey illustrate the phenomenon. About two-thirds of American adults say they have recently felt they had to limit their consumption of media coverage of politics and government because of overload, according to the survey by the AP News Agency's Center for Public Affairs Research and the NORC organization. A smaller percentage of Americans surveyed limit the amount of news they consume about foreign conflicts, the economy or climate change, according to the survey. The topic of politics dominates.
"The last thing I want to watch"
Before the presidential election, Democrat Sam Gude spent too much time watching election news on CNN and MSNBC for his liking. "The last thing I want to watch right now is the interregnum," said the 47-year-old electrician from the US state of Nebraska, who is no fan of future Republican President Donald Trump.
According to the poll, more Democrats than Republicans are avoiding the news. Around seven out of ten Democrats stated that they distance themselves from political news. The figure is not quite as high for Republicans. Around six in ten say they feel they need to take a break from the news. The proportion is similar among independent voters.
Audience figures are falling significantly
The difference is much greater for television stations, which have mainly focused on political news. In the period from US election night to December 13, MSNBC's primetime audience fell by 54% compared to the pre-election period this year to an average of 620,000 viewers, according to Nielsen. At CNN, the average figure of 405,000 represented a decline of 45 percent. According to Nielsen, the conservative news channel Fox News - popular with Trump supporters - has an average of 2.68 million viewers since the election, 13 percent higher than before. Since Election Day, 72 percent of viewers have tuned in to Fox News on one of the three channels in the evening. Before the US election, the figure was 53 percent, according to the data.
It is nothing new that fans of the candidate who lost the presidential election are less likely to tune in to the TV channels after election day, the majority of whose viewers lean towards either the Democrats or Republicans. The situation was similar for MSNBC after Trump's first election victory in 2016 and for Fox in 2020 after Trump's defeat. However, the decline at Fox at the time was also due to anger that the station had declared President Joe Biden the winner of the election in the US state of Arizona.
"Will tune in again as soon as the clown show starts"
Several viewers of MSNBC's "Morning Joe" were angry that presenters Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski had visited Trump shortly after his election victory in November. The TV station can hope that viewer numbers will pick up again from January: In previous years, it was the case that the numbers recovered when the dejection among voters due to an election defeat subsided.
"I'll tune in again as soon as the clown show starts," said Aunallah. "You don't have a choice. Whether you want to hear it or not, it's happening. If you care about your country, you have no choice but to pay attention."
But for MSNBC, the recovery could be bumpy. The decline in the channel's audience is sharper than in 2016, and there is also the question of whether Trump opponents want to be as engaged as they were during his first term.
The survey shows that Americans generally want less political content from public figures. During the election campaign, endorsements from celebrities such as Taylor Swift made headlines. According to the survey, respondents tend to view it more negatively than positively when celebrities, large companies and professional athletes comment on politics.
Solid audience of Trump haters
Some of the American viewers who have recently turned away from political news are hinting at how the networks could win them back. Gude said MSNBC will always have a solid audience of Trump haters. But if the network wants to grow its viewership, "you have to talk about issues and you have to stop talking about Trump."
Kathleen Kendrick, 36, from the US state of Colorado, said she gets enough of people voicing their political opinions loudly at work. When she watches the news, she wants more substance, said the woman, who is registered as an independent voter. Much of what she sees is one-sided and superficial, she said. "You get a story, but only part of a story. It would be nice if you could get both sides, and more research."
