The Scoop: Harris, Trump interview choices showcase new media landscape

With less than a month until the presidential election, both candidates are picking up their interview schedules. But Vice President Kamala Harris’ end-of-election blitz is most notable. She’s kept a relatively low media profile, eschewing major interviews or press conferences – something which has become an attack point for her Republican rivals.

But Harris has now scheduled a flurry of interviews. And the selected outlets run the media gamut.

There’s the stalwart “60 Minutes” sit down (Donald Trump was offered the same interview, but refused over the show’s insistence on fact checking.) Harris will have a chat with the women of “The View.” There’s a talk with raunchy shock jock Howard Stern. A late-night appearance with Stephen Colbert. To varying degrees, these are all fairly standard (and liberal leaning) hallmarks of a presidential campaign. Think back, after all, to Bill Clinton’s brand-defining moment playing saxophone on “The Arsenio Hall Show.”

But perhaps her most interesting media appearance is on “Call Her Daddy,” the most popular podcast among women. In her 40-minute interview, she touched on issues she hopes will resonate with that audience, including abortion and J.D. Vance’s comments about “childless cat ladies.”

Trump, too, has been making the podcast circuit, albeit focusing more strongly on male-focused podcasts such as “This Past Weekend w/Theo Von” (the No. 5 podcast in the U.S.) and the “Lex Fridman Podcast.”

Both candidates are also planning townhalls with Spanish-language broadcast Univision.

Why it matters: Looking at this slate of interviews, it’s clear that legacy media still has a great deal of cache. “60 Minutes,” with its iconic ticking clock, conveys gravitas and a willingness to answer hard-hitting questions and reach an older audience. Howard Stern and Stephen Colbert will convey a sense of playfulness and an ability to sometimes go along with the absurd. “The View” will, the Harris campaign must hope, show an ability to be down-to-earth and relatable.

But it’s the appearance on “Call Her Daddy” that’s the most emblematic of the media landscape in 2024. The podcast ranked as the No. 4 podcast in the U.S. in the second quarter, with a listenership that’s 90% female, highlighting “topics like mental health, trauma, and relationships and sex, but overall the focus relates to women and the day-to-day issues that they face,” according to Newsweek.

Reaching such a concentrated audience of young women would be almost impossible through traditional news media. And, indeed, the show isn’t traditional news media. Some are questioning whether the campaign is too soft by going to a major podcast instead of more “substantive” interviews. As Politico writes, “Most of these are not the types of interviews that are going to press her on issues she may not want to talk about, even as voters want more specifics from Harris. Instead, expect most of these sit-downs to be a continuation of the ‘vibes’ campaign Harris has perfected.”

But this is a criticism often levied toward female-dominated media and a criticism not given to Trump for his male-centric podcast appearances. And just as Harris is sticking to friendly media, so is Trump, with frequent call-ins to Fox News.

The ultimate arbiter of Harris’ media campaign will, of course, be voters. But this year’s presidential election is proving that the old ways are changing – and all PR practitioners must look for new paths forward.

Editor’s Top Reads:

• Nutter Butter, the old-school cookie brand, has amassed tens of millions of social media views with frankly unsettling short videos, like one featuring a shrimp being placed atop a peanut-shaped cookie, or a response to a question about whether the brand is “OK” that features sinister, wide-eyed cookies. The New York Times sat down with the creative team behind this bizarrely successful campaign and found that the key to success is “commit to the bit.” “If a piece of content makes too much sense, it doesn’t perform as well,” said Zach Poczekaj, a social media manager for Dentsu Creative, which handles the Nutter Butter account. “So, it should even be a little confusing to us at times, too.” The overall strategy involves going with the gut and leaning into the weird. Is this a strategy that will work for all, or even most brands? Obviously not. But coloring outside the lines has proven successful – if unsettling.
• Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg scored a PR victory with a few tweets and a simple phone call. Elon Musk, who has been voraciously spreading misinformation about the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on his social network, complained that the feds were blocking airspace over the stricken city of Asheville. “No one is shutting down the airspace and FAA doesn’t block legitimate rescue and recovery flights. If you’re encountering a problem give me a call,” Buttigieg replied. Numbers were exchanged, a call was placed and soon Musk was singing a different tune. “Thanks for expediting approval for support flights. Just wanted to note that Sec Buttigieg is on the ball,” Musk said shortly after. Buttigieg replied with a brief thanks. In a world of misinformation, just having a conversation – both in public and in private – can work wonders. Showing good-faith willingness to talk helped both sides and knocked down one piece of misinformation.
• As some companies begin to shy away from DE&I programs and accountability measures like the Human Rights Campaign, the new Representation Index aims to report just how diverse ad campaigns are, using AI to assist. Perhaps most helpfully, the Representation Index will allow advertisers to compare their own scores to industry averages. The creators acknowledge this comes even as some companies are dialing back DE&I but continue to press for its importance: “Over 85% of purchase decisions are made by women,” CEO Shelley Zalis of the Female Quotient, which started the index, said, adding that that purchasing power also extends to other groups suh as people of color and the LGBTQ+ community.

Allison Carter is editor-in-chief of PR Daily. Follow her on Twitter or LinkedIn.