The audience didn't shrink. It moved.
Voters still watch, read, and share more than ever. They just stopped doing it on cable and in print. The feed is the new town hall, and campaigns that are not built for it are talking to an empty room.
of Americans get news from social media and video, more than TV or news sites.
Reuters Institute, 2026trust the mass media to report the news fairly, down from 68% in 1972.
Gallup, 2026of adults under 30 regularly get their news on TikTok.
Pew Research Center, 2025Social media is now America's front page.
For the first time, more Americans get their news from social media and video platforms than from television or news websites. Print and radio are a rounding error. The audience a campaign needs is still there; it just lives in a different place now.
If your message only runs on TV and in press coverage, you are reaching less than half of the people who decide your race.
Where Americans got news in the last week
US · 2026Share of Americans getting news from social media, 2013 vs. 2026. It more than doubled.
Reuters Institute, 2013 & 2026of US adults get news from social media at least sometimes.
Pew Research Center, 2026Voters stopped trusting the messenger.
Trust in the mass media has fallen by half in a generation. In 2025 it hit the lowest level Gallup has ever recorded. When voters do not believe the outlet, an earned headline does not carry the weight it used to. They believe people: the candidate, on camera, and voices they already follow.
A campaign has to earn trust directly. The candidate's own face and the people voters already listen to now matter more than any headline.
Trust in mass media to report the news fully, accurately and fairly
US · 1972–2026Trust in the media, by age
US · 2023–2025of Americans say they trust most news most of the time, among the lowest of 48 countries surveyed.
Reuters Institute, 2026Americans now have no trust at all in the mass media.
Gallup, 2026The next generation never tuned in.
Younger voters did not leave traditional media; most of them never started. They get news from feeds, creators, and influencers, and they hear about breaking events on social media first. This is not a youth niche anymore. It is where the next decade of voters is forming its opinions.
If voters under 50 only meet your campaign through a mailer or a 30-second spot, they have not really met it at all.
Regularly get news on TikTok, by age
US · 2025Adults under 30 who regularly get news on TikTok
US · 2020–2025of adults under 30 regularly get news from news influencers, not news outlets.
Pew Research Center, 2025turn to social media first for breaking news: adults under 30 vs. adults 65+.
Pew Research Center, 2026The money is already moving.
Campaigns spent a record amount on political ads in the 2024 cycle, and for the first time broadcast TV took less than half of it. The spending is following the audience into cable, streaming, and digital. The campaigns that move first get there before it gets crowded and expensive.
Your opponents are shifting budget to the feed. Matching them on TV alone means losing the channel that is growing.
Where political ad dollars went
US · 2024 cycleThe old playbook vs. the new one.
The tools changed, so the playbook changed. Here is what campaigns used to do, and what wins now.
Attention. Trust. Action. Repeat.
A campaign is a media company now. Every service we offer is built to move voters through the same loop, again and again until election day.
Attention
Get seen first. Short, native content that earns the scroll from voters who never watch a debate.
Trust
Be seen often and up close. Real moments, real faces, and outside voices people already believe.
Action
Turn attention into sign-ups, donors, volunteers, and votes, in person and online.
Repeat
Every list grows the next push. Owned email and SMS so each win makes the next one cheaper.
Four rules we never break.
Speed
Same-day turnaround. The moment is over by tomorrow, so we post while it still matters.
Volume
Daily output across every platform. One great clip does not win a race; a hundred good ones do.
Face
The candidate, on camera, being human. People vote for people, not logos.
Simplicity
One idea per clip. If it takes a paragraph to explain, it will not travel.
Digital wins become real-world wins.
Views are not the goal. They are the first step toward the only number that counts.
Voters cannot support a name they have never seen. Reach comes first.
Familiar faces and outside voices make the choice feel safe.
Lists, events, and reminders get supporters to the polls.
Built for the way voters actually live now.
Plenty of firms can make an ad. We build the whole system that puts a candidate in front of voters every day and turns that attention into votes.
One team, every channel
Content, distribution, creators, events, and web under one roof. No handoffs between five vendors who never talk.
On the trail, not in an office
We travel with the campaign and film the moments that happen once. Nothing gets lost between the event and the feed.
Built for campaigns
Not a brand agency that does politics on the side. Every system is built around a calendar that ends on election day.
Any side of the aisle
Federal, state, and local races. We build media systems for candidates and causes, and we keep your work confidential.
Let's get your campaign approved.
Book a free 30-minute strategy call. We'll audit where your media stands and show you what it could look like by election day.
- Reuters Institute, Digital News Report 2026 (US findings: weekly news sources, trust in news).
- Reuters Institute, Digital News Report 2025 (social media for news in the US since 2013).
- Gallup, Trust in Mass Media, September 2026 and trend since 1972; age breakdown 2023–2025.
- Pew Research Center, Social Media and News Fact Sheet, 2026.
- Pew Research Center, Young Adults and the Future of News, December 2025 (TikTok and news influencers by age).
- Pew Research Center, News Platform Fact Sheet and TikTok news trend, 2020–2025.
- Pew Research Center, where Americans turn first for breaking news, March 2026.
- AdImpact, 2024 political advertising cycle in review.
Figures are from the most recent published releases at the time of writing and refer to US adults unless noted.