Leveling the Influence Playing Field
Call to ACTION
The What NOW Project
Are you still in a kind of shock about the 2024 election results and what the MAGA movement led by Donald Trump and Elon Musk are attempting to do NOW? We completely understand. With so much coming at us so fast its hard to know where to begin to push back.
Based on the narrative analysis work we did at Vital Signs of Democracy in the 3 years leading up to the 2024 election, we are starting simple. We want to do an indepth study of the most interesting finding that came out of our post 2024 election analysis for us. AND that was...
One of the reasons Donald Trump won was because the MAGA News Network led by Fox News and Joe Rogan completely overwhelmed the narrative of pro-democracy news sources.
As a result of their podcasts, YouTube videos and social media posts they influenced far more voters.
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It is our belief that if we don't fully understand how that happened and level the news environment playing field, no matter who we choose next as candidates or how we revise our messaging we could see similar results in the 2026 mid-terms. The MAGA propaganda machine is in full swing and to date Democrats are having trouble keeping up.
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We have the narrative analysis expertise and the data research partners* to help us ferret out what really happened to the election news in 2024. Initial analysis points towards MAGA News network superiority in coordinating their message across all media platforms and MAGA government officials. IF pro-democracy news sources want to level the playing field they will have to, at the very least, come up with a way to begin coordinating their message into easy to understand sound bytes. To do that we/they will need to know...
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How much each party spent on what types of promotional channels.
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The political bias of these news distribution channels.
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How to develop a message coordination effort between pro-democracy news outlets that rivals the MAGA News network in terms of informing voters.
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How to counter the simplicity of the messaging they pitched that allowed the “America is failing” narrative to win the culture war and thus the election.
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We will use the results from this study to help organize pro-democracy news sources into a powerful coordinated network that rivals the reach of the MAGA News network. We will also consult with candidates and organizations in how to make adjustments in the news sources they use to promote their pro-democracy message.
We need your help to raise a small amount of funding each month to conduct this first narrative analysis study and development of an action plan that will also recommend next steps for countering the MAGA News Network onslaught going forward.
You can make your $50, $100, $500 or more pledges by clicking on the Chase Bank/Wix Payments link below.
*Happy to share who are data analysis partners are.
If you want to see an example of our past work click on the link below to see a summary of VSD's narrative analysis work and the subsequent "What America Do You Want?" video campaign we ran during the six months leading up to the 2024 election.
We conducted our narrative analysis of the 2024 campaign from the political perspective of an independent voter not favoring either the MAGA Republicans or the Harris Democrats. We found fault with both the Democrats attempt to counter MAGA disinformation news claims by overwhelming their voters with Trump bashing and that MAGA news reporting was mostly based on disinformation intentionally reported or otherwise. Not a great choice for 2024 voters.
Our most glaring finding was that pro-democracy news sources were OVERWHLEMED by the MAGA News Network messaging.
At first look this was a result of the MAGA News Networks superior coordination of their message led by Fox News. Joe Rogan's Podcast, Tucker Carlson and Musk X posts.
AND... the Pro-Democracy News Network's weak efforts to rally a stronger pro-democracy vote with hyperbole and Trump bashing!
The result was the MAGA News Network had far greater influence on voters than the pro-democracy network. This was new and quite disturbing for our democratic system of checks and balances.
The CURRENT Headlines
‘Trump’s network’: Fox News is riding high after election night blowout - The Guardian
​The right dominates the online media ecosystem, seeping into sports, comedy, and other supposedly nonpolitical spaces
MediaMatters.org
"We believe this finding of the MAGA news media OVERWHELMING pro-democracy news sources needs to be studied in more detail BEFORE we take any further steps in revising pro-democracy messaging or selecting more attractive candidates.
IF this shift in how more voters were influenced by MAGA news is as pervasive as our initial reports indicate, it won’t make any difference who the pro-democracy movement runs or their message if we don't level the playing field."
Our Initial Reaction to the Results of the 2024 Election
Narrative 1: Addressing the Sea Change in News Media Influence
Narrative 2 – The Failure of Pro-Democracy Messaging
Five Initial Steps to Be Taken to Regain Influence with Voters
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