Congressman Bacon’s Media Strategy

An Outdated Approach

One of the biggest mistakes Republican elected officials make is going directly to the mainstream news media in an unending discussion as if the new media is their best friend. This gives the news media great power to misconstrue and set the framework for what the Republican says. At the same time, social media can slice and dice what is said. This often results in miscommunication with conservatives, the public at large, and can change the political chemistry.

For an elected official, best to have a well-written press release and post it to the internet and first address friendly news audiences and local media instead of going to the mainstream. As the story reaches the mainstream and social media, the ability to misconstrue information is limited, as anyone can access the initial public press release.

Congressman Bacon does fairly well with this ABC interview (https://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/video/biden-trump-classified-document-cases-rep-don-bacon-96446028) yet the interview ends up being about Santos. At the same time, Constitutionalist specialist Alan Dershowitz has already stated the claims about classified documents are over-blown

Standard practice of media, particularly broadcast media, is to ask about the most common current issue and move slowly to more controversial and contentious questions. This is why so many Republicans get stuck. Bacon is basically running a gauntlet (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Running_the_gauntlet) not just with the reporter but with the text which appears on the screen. Bacon appears to be oblivious to the fact, no matter how well he talks, the text is undermining him.

At the same time, the Federal debt is the real issue in this interview, not the documents, but Bacon has said nothing about the debt in his press releases (https://bacon.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx?DocumentTypeID=27). Yes, Bacon is in a purple district and Omaha is very progressive, but many Public Pulse writers mentioned the Federal debt in the Omaha World Herald on January 28, 2023. Economics is still important to many voters.

If you want to know just how manipulative the television broadcast is, mute the sound, and watch the text which appears in the interview above: Yellen: US risks “irreparable harm” if it defaults on debt; Divided Congress Could Face Fiscal Showdown in 2023. The text also says “White House: We will not negotiate on debt ceiling” and “Santos Alleged to Have Repeatedly Lied about Background”. In other words, installed President Biden won’t negotiate with “Republican liars” is the impression people are left with. Keep in mind, many people will see the text but not hear the audio as they are viewing the interview while sitting in a bar, dentist's office, airport or during an oil change. Much of what Bacon said was undermined by the text.

One other note, Bacon responded brilliantly to the Santos situation in not attacking him and the reporter knew it and abruptly ended the interview. Anyways, if you are concerned about how Bacon is handling his interviews with the media on the debt, you may contact his office through the link below:

https://bacon.house.gov/contact/