An Open Letter to Democrats: How to Get Your Message Out Through the Fourth Estate
Opinion Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the author/producer’s interpretation of facts and data.
By Victoria Gearity
The path to success for Democrats must be led by an army of disinformation disruptors who infiltrate the Republican media bubble. Pete Buttegieg can be our general, and I propose Congressman-elect George Latimer to be team captain.
This presidential election was not lost because of Kamala Harris’ stance on immigration, abortion or the economy. It was not lost because we didn’t knock enough doors or run enough ads. It was lost because of the systemic failure of the fourth estate. And Democrats need to disarm this weapon of division.
In our fragmented media environment, there IS a red America and a blue America. Our broken media culture shows no signs of self-correcting, so we need to insert ourselves into the Republican echo chamber. This must be an ongoing and wide-reaching campaign.
It’s not enough for the top of the ticket to do one interview weeks before the election. Former congressman-turned-Harris surrogate Adam Kinzinger remarked that once he was banished from the Republican Party and started spending time with Democrats, he came to realize that we, too, are patriots who love our country. We need to influence the narrative starting immediately and not let up until genuine conversations, however adversarial, between Republicans and Democrats become the norm.
Secretary Buttegieg is famous for his Fox News appearances. The reason he is so effective is not only because of his tremendous intellect and oratory skills. It is because he approaches each appearance as an opportunity to share information that viewers will not hear otherwise. This model must be expanded to include more right-wing traditional media outlets and right-wing-adjacent podcasts, as well as Spanish-language media. I’m envisioning a cadre of sharp progressive voices who create viral moments that dispel disinformation, dismantle false narratives about Democrats and break through algorithms.
Last month when a friend shared a Fox News talking point in conversation as if it were fact, my gut reaction was to think, “How can you be so foolish?” This is a highly accomplished woman who is probably taking in more political news than the average American, and no doubt she feels she’s getting all the information she needs from her current media diet.
People are not going to deliberately vary their media intake, so we need to meet voters where they are. We need our strongest, smartest, most skilled public figures relentlessly inserting themselves into the discourse on right-wing media outlets. We need to break through algorithms that drive the feed for young voters who have never read a newspaper or lived without a smartphone.
Which brings me back to my friend George Latimer. Anyone who follows politics in Westchester knows why I suggested him to be one of the brave voices to infiltrate right-wing media and adjacent podcasts. Like Secretary Buttegieg, George speaks persuasively, eloquently and doggedly. As a newly-elected congressman, he’ll have a lot on his plate representing the 16th Congressional District. Thankfully he seems to never sleep, so I’m confident he can contribute admirably to this effort. No doubt there are many more brilliant people with just the skills we need.
Will Republican media outlets book them? I think so. Everyone likes a fierce fight. And we have some powerful contenders who can help us ensure the great American experiment continues to strive for a more perfect union.
Victoria Gearity is a former mayor of the Village of Ossining, the secretary of the Ossining Town Democratic Committee and a member of the New York State Democratic Committee.
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