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即将离开白宫的特朗普,很可能成立 “特朗普电视台”

即将离开白宫的特朗普,很可能成立 “特朗普电视台”

REY MASHAYEKHI 2020-11-27
“特朗普”也许是美国政治史上最强大的品牌。

也许特朗普永远不会公开承认自己败选,但当联邦政府总务署终于在周一通过了政权过渡的法案,将之后的总统行政权让渡给拜登时,他还是不得不接受在2020年大选中落败的事实。

鉴于目前特朗普不愿将总统职位让渡给拜登的“宪政危机”已经得以解除,人们就更对特朗普的未来充满了猜测。当他在白宫度过了史无前例、过分张扬的四年总统生涯之后,无论发生什么,都很难想象他在从总统席位上退休后,会安于平静——诸如把时间花在设计总统图书馆上,并对继任者的工作表现保持沉默。

显而易见的是,他离任时的形象和初上任时并无不同:一个分裂的、两极分化的人物,尽管以数百万张选票之差输掉了大选,但仍有一部分美国选民相当坚定地追随着他。美国消费者新闻与商业频道(CNBC)与Change研究机构于本周进行的一项新的民意调查发现,有73%的特朗普支持者很明显地在复述着这位总统毫无根据的宣传话语——相信他是2020年大选的合法获胜者。如果特朗普决定脱离共和党并成立自己的政党,这些选民中有72%的人表示,他们很乐意抛弃共和党,并跟随他加入新成立的特朗普党。

如果特朗普在2015年决定参选总统时,就是为了巩固自己的品牌并引起公众的注意——如果他真的认为,他长期暴露在聚光灯下的候选人身份能带来更多的媒体机会,或至少带火他新一季的真人秀《学徒》——那么,总的来说,整个事件就是一次巨大的成功。尽管有种种看法认为,竞选总统让特朗普集团的名誉受损,以及他为当选总统的快感付出了数百万美元的代价,但当特朗普本人即将离开白宫时,仍有成千上万的美国人愿意追随他的每句话语、每个姿势。“特朗普”成为了一个面向公众的品牌,并且也许是美国政治史上最强大的品牌。

因此,人们越来越猜想,特朗普终将意识到,自己最初是以何种方式担任总统一职的:通过自己一手打造的媒体事件,获得了脍炙人口的品牌效应及热烈的追随者。选举刚结束,几乎就立即出现了关于“特朗普电视台”的讨论,这显然是由这位总统对福克斯新闻频道和(据传)对传媒大亨默多克的愤怒引起的——他认为这些媒体报道保守派的声音时有失偏颇,不愿意给他曝光率,令他很不满。

在这一点上,任何人都可能会猜到那副场景会是什么模样。根据美国新闻网站Axios报道,鉴于搭建一个新的有线新闻网络会面临财务和物流方面的障碍,而以订阅用户为基础的在线流媒体频道开始崛起——可以预见,特朗普会将这些平台上的大量用户视为自己竞选活动的珍宝,利用其手机和电子邮件等联系方式,把他们当作自己的“潜在订户”。上周,《华尔街日报》报道说,总统的盟友已投资了Newsmax——一家由特朗普的亲信克里斯托弗·鲁迪运营的保守派网站和广播网络,特朗普的目的是使Newsmax成为Fox News的合法挑战者。(但鲁迪则否认自己的业务中有任何此类交易)

在特朗普担任总统的时代,Newsmax和右翼有线电视频道One American News Network(OAN)的影响力都得到了大幅提高,这在很大程度上要归功于特朗普凭总统身份、以转推和背书的形式与之联合,施加了不小的影响。反过来,这些媒体也表现出为特朗普竞选总统站台的意愿——通过散播即使不是有明显失实、起码也很可疑的消息和谣言,例如兜售关于疫情的虚假主张,并宣传特朗普毫无根据的指控,即原本属于他的选票以某种方式被窃取了。事实证明,“让美国再次伟大”的口号已经准备好以势不可挡的力量姿席卷整个美国了。

确实,特朗普进军政治始终是右翼媒体机构声嘶力竭地在自己的回声室里自娱自乐的产物。但是凭借对电视的敏锐把控和对社交媒体的精通,特朗普能够将其国家至上主义和经济民粹主义的言论纳入全国性的政治运动。在诸如拉什·林博和肖恩·汉尼蒂这样的保守派媒体人物

的鼓舞下,特朗普早就青出于蓝而胜于蓝,其吸引力和利益面前罔顾真理的决绝早已超越了这些前辈——在这一过程中,保守派的政治言论甚至进一步发展。不管有多么奇怪和在充满事实错误,总有一队忠诚的信徒愿意跟随他走下兔子洞,“特朗普电视台”将顺理成章地成为这位美国实际上的宣传领袖的下一步计划,而这些天福克斯新闻甚至都不怎么报道他了。

而且,如果特朗普设法以某种方式避免了在离任后官司缠身,那么在他和他的追随者之间的新兴垂直媒体不仅可以证明特朗普的努力没有白费,而且可以证明,这也将是他再次参与2024年总统竞选的起点。尽管白宫不再担任“特朗普的发声平台”这一职能,但“特朗普电视台”将提供一个恶霸式的讲坛,借助这一平台,他可以加强对已经出现的保守派选民的指挥,让他们下一次继续推荐他为首选的总统候选人。

保守派想要挑战福克斯新闻在广播电视上的优势可能需要付出极大的努力,但有迹象表明,默多克的传媒帝国也有引人注目的举动。本周,《名利场》杂志报道说,该集团正在考虑向特朗普提供一笔1亿美元的交易,以使他重新进入媒体的视野—其中一项工作涉及通过该公司旗下的子公司哈珀·柯林斯出版社来出版总统回忆录,并可能通过让特朗普参加福克斯新闻台的节目作为报酬。一位消息人士告诉该杂志称:“默多克将开出丰厚的价码。他们的想法是,买断特朗普,让他自己闭嘴。”

这种和解是否真的能达成,特朗普又是否决定亲自进军媒体业,都还有待观察。但无论选择哪种方式,只要特朗普采取任何进军媒体界的行动,都会又数以千万计的美国人仍将他视为政治领袖、将他的话视为政治真理——尽管有足够的证据显示出相反的状况。特朗普带来的这个两极分化时代使他自己拥有了一大批忠实观众,坐在电视机前等待着他的一举一动。而对媒体行业来说,几乎没有什么比这更有价值的东西了。(财富中文网)

编译:陈聪聪

也许特朗普永远不会公开承认自己败选,但当联邦政府总务署终于在周一通过了政权过渡的法案,将之后的总统行政权让渡给拜登时,他还是不得不接受在2020年大选中落败的事实。

鉴于目前特朗普不愿将总统职位让渡给拜登的“宪政危机”已经得以解除,人们就更对特朗普的未来充满了猜测。当他在白宫度过了史无前例、过分张扬的四年总统生涯之后,无论发生什么,都很难想象他在从总统席位上退休后,会安于平静——诸如把时间花在设计总统图书馆上,并对继任者的工作表现保持沉默。

显而易见的是,他离任时的形象和初上任时并无不同:一个分裂的、两极分化的人物,尽管以数百万张选票之差输掉了大选,但仍有一部分美国选民相当坚定地追随着他。美国消费者新闻与商业频道(CNBC)与Change研究机构于本周进行的一项新的民意调查发现,有73%的特朗普支持者很明显地在复述着这位总统毫无根据的宣传话语——相信他是2020年大选的合法获胜者。如果特朗普决定脱离共和党并成立自己的政党,这些选民中有72%的人表示,他们很乐意抛弃共和党,并跟随他加入新成立的特朗普党。

如果特朗普在2015年决定参选总统时,就是为了巩固自己的品牌并引起公众的注意——如果他真的认为,他长期暴露在聚光灯下的候选人身份能带来更多的媒体机会,或至少带火他新一季的真人秀《学徒》——那么,总的来说,整个事件就是一次巨大的成功。尽管有种种看法认为,竞选总统让特朗普集团的名誉受损,以及他为当选总统的快感付出了数百万美元的代价,但当特朗普本人即将离开白宫时,仍有成千上万的美国人愿意追随他的每句话语、每个姿势。“特朗普”成为了一个面向公众的品牌,并且也许是美国政治史上最强大的品牌。

因此,人们越来越猜想,特朗普终将意识到,自己最初是以何种方式担任总统一职的:通过自己一手打造的媒体事件,获得了脍炙人口的品牌效应及热烈的追随者。选举刚结束,几乎就立即出现了关于“特朗普电视台”的讨论,这显然是由这位总统对福克斯新闻频道和(据传)对传媒大亨默多克的愤怒引起的——他认为这些媒体报道保守派的声音时有失偏颇,不愿意给他曝光率,令他很不满。

在这一点上,任何人都可能会猜到那副场景会是什么模样。根据美国新闻网站Axios报道,鉴于搭建一个新的有线新闻网络会面临财务和物流方面的障碍,而以订阅用户为基础的在线流媒体频道开始崛起——可以预见,特朗普会将这些平台上的大量用户视为自己竞选活动的珍宝,利用其手机和电子邮件等联系方式,把他们当作自己的“潜在订户”。上周,《华尔街日报》报道说,总统的盟友已投资了Newsmax——一家由特朗普的亲信克里斯托弗·鲁迪运营的保守派网站和广播网络,特朗普的目的是使Newsmax成为Fox News的合法挑战者。(但鲁迪则否认自己的业务中有任何此类交易)

在特朗普担任总统的时代,Newsmax和右翼有线电视频道One American News Network(OAN)的影响力都得到了大幅提高,这在很大程度上要归功于特朗普凭总统身份、以转推和背书的形式与之联合,施加了不小的影响。反过来,这些媒体也表现出为特朗普竞选总统站台的意愿——通过散播即使不是有明显失实、起码也很可疑的消息和谣言,例如兜售关于疫情的虚假主张,并宣传特朗普毫无根据的指控,即原本属于他的选票以某种方式被窃取了。事实证明,“让美国再次伟大”的口号已经准备好以势不可挡的力量姿席卷整个美国了。

确实,特朗普进军政治始终是右翼媒体机构声嘶力竭地在自己的回声室里自娱自乐的产物。但是凭借对电视的敏锐把控和对社交媒体的精通,特朗普能够将其国家至上主义和经济民粹主义的言论纳入全国性的政治运动。在诸如拉什·林博和肖恩·汉尼蒂这样的保守派媒体人物

的鼓舞下,特朗普早就青出于蓝而胜于蓝,其吸引力和利益面前罔顾真理的决绝早已超越了这些前辈——在这一过程中,保守派的政治言论甚至进一步发展。不管有多么奇怪和在充满事实错误,总有一队忠诚的信徒愿意跟随他走下兔子洞,“特朗普电视台”将顺理成章地成为这位美国实际上的宣传领袖的下一步计划,而这些天福克斯新闻甚至都不怎么报道他了。

而且,如果特朗普设法以某种方式避免了在离任后官司缠身,那么在他和他的追随者之间的新兴垂直媒体不仅可以证明特朗普的努力没有白费,而且可以证明,这也将是他再次参与2024年总统竞选的起点。尽管白宫不再担任“特朗普的发声平台”这一职能,但“特朗普电视台”将提供一个恶霸式的讲坛,借助这一平台,他可以加强对已经出现的保守派选民的指挥,让他们下一次继续推荐他为首选的总统候选人。

保守派想要挑战福克斯新闻在广播电视上的优势可能需要付出极大的努力,但有迹象表明,默多克的传媒帝国也有引人注目的举动。本周,《名利场》杂志报道说,该集团正在考虑向特朗普提供一笔1亿美元的交易,以使他重新进入媒体的视野—其中一项工作涉及通过该公司旗下的子公司哈珀·柯林斯出版社来出版总统回忆录,并可能通过让特朗普参加福克斯新闻台的节目作为报酬。一位消息人士告诉该杂志称:“默多克将开出丰厚的价码。他们的想法是,买断特朗普,让他自己闭嘴。”

这种和解是否真的能达成,特朗普又是否决定亲自进军媒体业,都还有待观察。但无论选择哪种方式,只要特朗普采取任何进军媒体界的行动,都会又数以千万计的美国人仍将他视为政治领袖、将他的话视为政治真理——尽管有足够的证据显示出相反的状况。特朗普带来的这个两极分化时代使他自己拥有了一大批忠实观众,坐在电视机前等待着他的一举一动。而对媒体行业来说,几乎没有什么比这更有价值的东西了。(财富中文网)

编译:陈聪聪

Though he may never publicly admit it, Donald Trump effectively conceded the 2020 presidential election on Monday, when his federal government's General Services Administration finally signed off on the transition to President-elect Joe Biden’s incoming regime.

With a constitutional crisis, for now, averted, there is much speculation on what the future will hold for Trump. Whatever follows his remarkable, unprecedented four-year term in the White House, it’s hard to envisage him settling into a quiet post-presidency—perhaps one spent designing his presidential library and keeping quiet on his successor’s job performance.

What’s clear is that he leaves Washington much as he arrived: a divisive, polarizing figure who, despite losing a national election by millions of votes, retains a fiercely devoted following among segments of the American electorate. A new CNBC/Change Research poll this week found that 73% of Trump voters, apparently parroting the President’s baseless propaganda, believe that he was the legitimate winner of the 2020 election. Should Trump decide to break away from the Republicans and start a political party of his own, 72% of those voters said they would gladly desert the GOP and follow him to a fledgling Trump Party.

If Trump really did run for president in 2015 primarily to bolster his brand and generate publicity—if he truly did think his long-shot candidacy would, if nothing else, lead to future media opportunities, or at the very least provide the upcoming season of The Apprentice with a ratings bump—then, all in all, the entire affair was a raging, unmitigated success. For all the talk of the Trump Organization’s sullied reputation and the millions of dollars in revenue lost as a result of Trump’s presidential joyride, the man himself will leave the White House with a built-in audience of tens of millions of Americans willing to hang on his every word and posture. As a public-facing brand, Trump’s is perhaps the most formidable in the history of American politics.

As such, there’s been heightened conjecture that Trump will finally realize what his presidency may have always been about in the first place: capitalizing on his burnished brand, and its fervent following, via a media venture of his own. Talk of “Trump TV” sprang up almost immediately after the election, apparently fueled by the President’s fury at Fox News Channel—and, reportedly, News Corp baron Rupert Murdoch—over the conservative network’s coverage of the race.

What that venture could look like is anybody’s guess at this point. Given the financial and logistical barriers to launching a cable news network from the ground up, a subscription-based online streaming channel has been floated—one that could see Trump parlay his campaign’s enviable troves of cell phone and email contact information into a database of would-be subscribers, according to Axios. And last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that allies of the President have explored an investment into Newsmax, the conservative website and broadcast network run by Trump confidant Christopher Ruddy, with the aim of building Newsmax into a legitimate challenger to Fox News. (Ruddy, for his part, has denied there being any such deal in the works.)

Both Newsmax and fellow right-wing cable channel One American News Network (OAN) have grown their reach substantially during the Trump era, thanks in no small part to co-signs from the President in the form of retweets and endorsements. In turn, they’ve displayed a willingness to do his bidding by disseminating talking points that are factually dubious at best and misinformation at worst—such as peddling spurious claims about COVID-19 and promoting Trump’s baseless allegations that the election was somehow stolen from him. It is content that “MAGA Nation” has proven all too ready to gobble up.

Indeed, Trump’s foray into politics was always a product of the sprawling, reactionary echo chamber that is the right-wing media apparatus. With his keen grasp of television and his mastery of social media, Trump was able to parlay his rhetoric of nativism and economic populism into a national political movement. Spurred on by conservative media figureheads like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, he has long since surpassed them in both his gravitational pull and tenuous relationship to the truth—driving conservative political discourse even further to the fringe in the process. With an army of devotees willing to follow him down any rabbit hole, no matter how bizarre and factually challenged, “Trump TV” would be the logical next step for America’s propagandist-in-chief, a man for whom even Fox News isn’t cutting it these days.

And should Trump somehow manage to avoid the myriad legal storm clouds looming on his post-presidential horizon, an upstart media vertical could not only prove a profitable endeavor, but also a launching point for yet another run for the White House in 2024. Deprived of the platform afforded to him by the White House, “Trump TV” would provide a bully pulpit from which he could strengthen his command of a conservative electorate that already appears to favor him as its preferred candidate the next time around.

While it would take some feat to challenge Fox News’ dominance of the conservative airwaves, there are signs that the Murdoch empire is taking notice. This week, Vanity Fair reported that News Corp is considering offering Trump a $100 million deal to bring him back into the fold—one that would involve publishing his presidential memoir through its HarperCollins subsidiary, and potentially rewarding him with his very own show on Fox News. “Rupert is going to make a humongous offer,” a source told the publication. “The thinking is, Let’s buy Trump off so he shuts the f— up.”

It remains to be seen whether such a reconciliation truly is in the cards, or if Trump decides to strike out on his own. Whatever path he chooses, any foray Trump takes into the media world will certainly be followed by the tens of millions of Americans who still look to him as their political truth-teller, despite ample evidence to the contrary. The era of hyper-polarization that he ushered in has equipped Trump with an enormous audience eager to tune in to what he’s pitching. In the media business, there are few things as valuable.

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