The minority voice: a growth in COVERAGE AND TURNOUT

BY: Talia and Mariana

Mariana: In our analysis of media's coverage of the election, we focused on the ways that the media covered marginalized groups within the election. What we found most surprising was the sheer amount of coverage that these groups got within liberal media.

Talia: Yeah! I was really happily surprised by the media coverage these traditionally marginalized groups got. I expected there to be more diversity within the Democratic Party, but after the four years of a racially charged Trump administration and the divides that came as a result, I did not expect this large of an uptick not only of people of color representatives, but voter turn out amongst these communities. It really shows the growth in political involvement in the past few years. It was also sad to hear of the barriers and voter suppression that stopped a lot of these groups from showing up with full force, especially in swing states.

Mariana: At the same time, there was a group of voters that the Democratic Party usually takes for granted that came out in overwhelming (relative to 2016) numbers for Trump: Black men, which I found particularly interesting. Some Hispanics tend to vote conservatively, as seen in Florida, but many groups seemed to be disillusioned with the work of the Democratic Party. What I found interesting is that usually "liberal" media tends to blame conservative media for any change in the Democratic Party's voter demographic, but during this election, the media tended to place the blame more on the Democratic Party itself's failing to reach the minority demographics.

Talia: Yeah, it was really nice to see liberal media hold the Democratic Party accountable, because I felt that was something that was lacking in their coverage of Clinton's 2016 campaign. I also think that, in turn, the more conservative new sources took advantage of the Democrat's faults to uplift Trump. There is an obvious divide between the older and newer generations in both the Democratic and Republican parties, and I think that conservative media tried to capitalize upon that to make the argument for four more years of a Trump presidency by showing that the Democrats relied too much on groups that traditionally supported them and they could no longer find comfort within their party platform, and that the Republican party would make room, although their policies tend to be discriminatory to these groups.

Mariana: The LGBTQ community as well had a huge turnout for Trump—double what is was in 2016—mostly because of white, cisgender men. On the flip side, the contingent of Black women voting for Trump was only 8%, more than in 2016 but still much less than any other group. There was one article in particular that I found that talked about the power of the white patriarchy, a theme I found a lot in the coverage of this election. Many people are much more willing to discuss the detrimental effects of the (white) patriarchy on marginalized groups now than in 2016, and how both the Democratic and Republican Party play into that power struggle. The patriarchy is something that we rarely see talked about in mass media - particularly media written by men - and it was refreshing to see how much coverage there was about how people feel dependent on the patriarchy and will support it in order to have "power by proximity".

Talia: This new generation of congresspeople is much more representative of the greater population, and was largely reflected in the media coverage, and subsequently voter turnout. One key player in this election was Stacy Abrams. Stacy Abrams is representative of the outreach and voter turnout that is necessary for the Democratic party as their voter bloc shifts, from fighting Republican led voter suppression to turning out the black vote, and was key in turning Georgia blue and ultimately helping Biden secure the presidency. The coverage that young leaders like her, especially leaders of color, had in the media showed the role that young leaders had in bridging divides that characterized the past four years. I think that her involvement and leadership, as well as the coverage and praise it received, is reflective of the way that this election showed that we need to overcome past divides for the greater good. The media, no matter what party it may align itself with, has a large part to play in making sure information is properly disseminated to the public so they can choose who represents them in an educated manner.

Mariana: What I loved about the coverage this election was just how much people were willing to discuss the true failings within our political system to recognize marginalized and underrepresented groups. Both conservative and liberal media was forced to come to terms with the existence of minorities, and it was shown in the range of coverage there was.

Talia: After four years of uncertainty and misinformation, it is nice to see the media move forward and try to be more representative of the diversity of issues facing this country and its constituents.