It's Up to Us

Before we dig in, I want to acknowledge the privilege of participating in and witnessing the groundswell of progress that took place over the past three months. People from all political persuasions got newly involved. Hundreds of thousands of first-time voters registered and are now in the ring. We can’t fixate solely on the result and bitterly throw up our hands, screaming, “FOR WHAT?!”

Believe me, I understand that instinct. But let’s not forget that Donald Trump has been priming the electorate with bullshit for many years. This loss was years in the making, with behemoth, billionaire, behind-the-scenes GOP and global strategists tilting the election to ensure that no Democrat would succeed. In that light, it’s astonishing how much was accomplished in a hundred days.

To be clear, I’m not asking you to get fired up. I’m not asking if you’re ready to go. But I am asking you to take a moment to recognize that, though our tent may seem deflated now—its power and promise for the future remains mighty.     

OK. All that stated…WHELP. We have our work cut out for us.

Last week we were inundated by post-mortems diagnosing how the left got it SO wrong. As usual, the clarity of counsel comes too late, but there’s still value in assessing how best to adjust before attempting to launch a resistance forged by an (understandably) bewildered band of weary warriors.

There’s no shortage of rationales for who’s to blame, which systemic institutions malfunctioned, or how so many Americans voted to elect Donald Trump. Again! Racism, misogyny, the fall-out from global inflation…there’s a lot to consider. We have to take this day-by-day, so for today, I’ll focus on a contributing factor that’s personal—and is also an adjustment we have to make to regain a foothold in our democracy. 

Our system for sharing and distributing information is in shambles. The rightwing propaganda machine is a beast. And the left, with our dependence on sane-washing legacy media, cannot compete unless we’re prepared to make substantial adjustments to our media ecosystem. 

Let’s do a quick survey on how rightwing outlets are reporting Trump’s latest proposed cabinet members. (Leaving aside that Pete Hegseth, one of Fox’s hosts, has just been named Defense Secretary.)   

Here’s how Lee Zeldin, tapped to head up our Environmental Protection Agency, was covered by the Washington Examiner: “Trump indicated that new EPA leadership will prioritize rolling back EPA rules from the Biden administration, saying Zeldin will ‘unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet.’”

The article fails to mention that Zeldin, while in Congress, voted against the Inflation Reduction Act, against cracking down on Big Oil price gouging, against clean water and clean air protections, and against the EPA’s methane pollution safeguards.

Marco Rubio, Trump’s pick for Secretary of State, is hailed in the Free Beacon (whose tagline is: Covering the Enemies of Freedom the Way Mainstream Media Won’t) for endorsing Trump over his home state governor Ron DeSantis, and because he agrees with Trump’s foreign policy, “including bringing a quick end to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.” 

It does not inform its readers how he envisions an end to the war in Ukraine, nor does it share Rubio’s recent assessment that, “the way the war in Ukraine is going to end is with a negotiated settlement.” 

It certainly doesn’t remind readers that Rubio, when running against Trump in 2016, stated, “For years to come, there are many people on the right...that are going to be having to explain and justify how they fell into this trap of supporting Donald Trump.” 

Agreed. Let’s begin with…you? 

Similar split screens could be offered for how rightwing media is covering South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, who recently proved herself willing to sway along with Trump, no matter where or why. The infamous puppy-murderer is slated to become our head of Department of Homeland Security and FEMA.

Or how they’re covering the choice of Tom Homan, Trump’s former ICE director who put families in cages, to lead mass deportations as our next Border Czar. Newsweek set the stage with a bizarrely lighthearted headline in October: “Donald Trump Says Project 2025 Author ‘Coming on Board’ If Elected.” (In case you were wondering what cruel plans have been occupying him.)

Finally, there’s Stephen Miller, who will be returning to the White House as Deputy Chief of Staff. Miller—an unabashed, wholly committed white supremacist—may as well hold the title of Enabler to Trump’s Worst Instincts, including sanctioned violations of basic human rights. How was he covered by Breitbart? As an “immigration expert.” The article continues: “The choice puts Trump’s promise of pro-American immigration reform at the center of his presidency and may help return the nation to a low-migration, high-tech future.” 

The same guy who headed up Trump’s zero-tolerance policy that led to children being separated from their parents? Yes. That fucking guy.

That is a small sampling of the dangerously unqualified Trump-loyalists who will soon be controlling our government. But the point is that millions of people are consuming the news exclusively from these extremist outlets, enabling the cycle of misinformation and disinformation to keep rolling; unchecked.

This doesn’t mean that there’s nothing we can do in the meantime.

We need to prepare to meet people where they are. We gain nothing by avoiding Fox News and Joe Rogan out of some notion that doing so validates those platforms. That ship left the harbor long ago. Millions of devoted audience members take their word as gospel. This leaves us with the options of making our case on their turf OR staying snug in our silos and ceding that ground to people who will frame the left in the most distorted light possible, with zero pushback.

We have to start building and supporting progressive media to reclaim the significant ground we’ve lost. Young people (in particular, but not exclusively) are consuming an abundance of content that serves as a gateway. The highest-rated political podcasts in this country are on-ramps into right-wing ideology. And, to Trump’s and Republicans’ credit (that’s hard to write, but can’t be denied), they’ve put in the time to lay hands on those emerging voices from the right, big or small. 

Late in the campaign, people questioned the logic of Trump refusing 60 Minutes but appearing on several seemingly irrelevant podcasts. Before his three-hour session with Joe Rogan, Trump appeared on The Nelk Boys, Theo Von, Logan Paul, and Patrick Bet-David, among others. Doing so guaranteed him a receptive audience of millions and plenty of sharable content that made him seem cogent. Once those hosts felt validated, they and their audiences went out and did Trump’s bidding, brushed off his bizarre antics, and ultimately delivered what he sought most: their votes.  

Democrats don’t offer the same attention to independent media on the left, and that’s a crucial missing weapon in our artillery. When was the last time you received breaking news via a progressive creator on the left, versus getting it from Politico (which Dems complain about), Axios (which Dems complain about), or CNN (which Dems complain about)? That’s not how we operate. Now, consider the flip side. When was the last time a Republican broke news via mainstream channels? That’s not how they operate. They give it to their people: Breitbart, the Washington Examiner, Free Beacon, the Daily Wire. 

The right bolsters their media infrastructure at every turn, intent on creating a false reality to garner power, and are now reaping the benefits. The left bolsters mainstream media, only to turn around and complain about Both Sidesism. Independent media is tolerated but not strategically cultivated or embraced.

I’m not putting this forth as self-advertisement. I’m hoping to encourage politicians and their communications teams seek out independent, progressive outlets—large or small—and validate them. Set up interviews. Give them news to break. Because, at the risk of redundancy, we NEED to build up progressive media if we’re to survive this new environment of information distribution.

Plenty of people have supported this—who get it and are doing their part. For example, Pete Buttigieg and his team have been consistently generous with their time, and his presence has helped launch creators’ visibility and outreach. In turn, they love him for the validation and will become essential tribunes for him and his message moving forward. A huge ROI for a tiny investment of time. We need to see more of this—more creators and more support. Together, we can chart new inroads to make our voices heard by persuadable Americans. 

We have a lot of work to do—and we will do it. Don’t lose hope. You’ll need it. And we need you. We’ve got a long fight ahead, humility to reckon with, and changes to make. They will be worth it, as will the fight that we’re waging. Our coalition is strong, and if I can guarantee you anything, it’s that we’re only going to get stronger.