CNN anchor Abby D. Phillip attributed Donald Trump’s electoral victory to his campaign’s strategic focus on nontraditional media outlets, suggesting it could signal a broader shift toward a new era of political candidates.
“If you are a traditional candidate, as we were just talking about, how do you calibrate?” she asked at a Harvard Institute of Politics forum on Monday. “I think that this may be the end of the traditional candidate.”
Phillip, a former editor at The Crimson, joined journalist Eugene Scott and Liana McGhee ’26 to discuss the evolving American media landscape. She highlighted how both President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have utilized nontraditional media platforms, including appearances with podcasters and online influencers.
Phillip emphasized the influence of conservative online media and podcasts on voter engagement, noting the Trump campaign’s strategic outreach to “extremely nontraditional” sources as a key factor in shaping public opinion.
“Some of these people that Trump was sitting down with are very controversial,” Phillip said. “The people who get their news from alternative sources, they give extra points for seeing you in places where they don’t expect you.”
Phillip noted that while the Harris campaign also leveraged “nontraditional” media platforms like podcasts and social media, they played it safe and avoided taking significant risks.
“They still were going to places where generally they’d be well received, or generally she would be kind of celebrated,” she said.
Phillip suggested that Trump’s electoral success will likely compel future candidates to adopt similarly bold and unconventional media strategies.
“Politicians are going to have to take note of that and figure out how they can get comfortable doing that — because that’s the future,” she said.
Phillip, a cable news anchor herself, acknowledged that this shift could reduce the influence of traditional broadcast journalism.
“I feel like I have to talk about my own demise here, but that’s what it is,” she said. “People are not watching TV anymore.”
Phillip expressed confidence that CNN, in particular, remains highly relevant despite the evolving media landscape.
In an interview with The Crimson, Phillip stated that while journalists “understand the basic premise of how Donald Trump operates” from his first term, they must strive to enhance their coverage during his second term.
“There was so much focus in the first administration on the personalities, on the internal disputes, on the tweets, on the moods of Donald Trump and his advisers,” she said. “What we need more of is reporting on what the government is doing for — and perhaps not for — the American people.”
She concluded: “That takes a lot of resources — it takes a lot of digging, it takes good journalism,” she added. “It’s not as sexy sometimes, but it’s extremely important.”
