Derek O’Brien writes: How to be a visible politician

Those who can harness the power of different kinds of media platforms will win the perception battle

We could broadly classify the consumption of political news content under three different kinds of media platforms

5 min readFeb 14, 2025 01:27 PM IST First published on: Feb 14, 2025 at 07:04 AM IST

When Donald Trump took the stage at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC for a post-inaugural rally, he had an unlikely hero to thank for his victory. Not a Silicon Valley technocrat. Not a trusted DC campaign manager. Not a donor. Instead, a first-year student at New York University. Correction: His son, a first year-student at New York University.

As the 18-year old Barron Trump rose from his seat and waved with aplomb, the 47th President of the United States explained: It was Barron’s idea for him to be interviewed on independent platforms. Rough estimates suggest Trump appeared on at least 14 podcasts and interviews. He chatted about the existence of Martians on one, sports on another and election fraud on others. Comedians, former footballers, scientists and ex-drug addicts all interviewed Trump. Mass appeal was the only criteria. Barron’s strategy apparently worked. His dad said during his speech that he had secured the youth vote by 36 points.

Is there a lesson here for politicians in India?

Last week in Parliament, we discussed the President’s Address. Many members of the Opposition from both Houses made compelling arguments. To expose the policies of the Union government, your columnist invoked 10 iconic films that were India’s official entries to the Oscars. One mainline English daily and all Bengali newspapers reported the speech. That’s it. Not a line in any other newspaper. Not five seconds on television. What, then, does a politician from the Opposition do? First, stop complaining. Instead, look for solutions.

As this writer has said before, this is the time for the “politician journalist”. So the first move after delivering a speech in Parliament (carried live by Sansad TV) is to upload the video on all personal social media platforms, and also share it with multiple WhatsApp groups. What happened last week was a pleasant surprise! A Malayalam YouTube channel picked up the speech, made in English, and uploaded it: 48,000 views. A Bengali YouTube channel shared the speech: 40,000 views. An independent English video platform next: 30,000 views.

We could broadly classify the consumption of political news content under three different kinds of media platforms:

Legacy media

This includes newspapers and television channels. Also referred to as “mainstream media”, the phrase “legacy media” seems more appropriate. International trends suggest that this segment still occupies mindspace in influencing opinion. Here too, the worst affected is what is known as “appointment television” — a phrase that derives from watching a specific programme on television at an “appointed time”. Is television news a dying species? One thing is certain. The phone is to news delivery in 2025 what the television set was in 2005. The printed word is still high — or relatively high — on the credibility charts. The challenge for newspapers is to leverage their strong brand equity to engage readers/viewers across multiple digital platforms. Those who do not are writing their own obituaries. Those who do will dominate the media universe in the next decade.

Influencers

These are individuals (supported by strong research and production teams) who have built a large following on social and digital media largely based on their personal brand equity. Influencers share content that aligns with their personal brand image, and hence, the scope still tends to be a little restricted. Often, these influencers have strong personal opinions (biases?) and create content to pander to their core viewer base.

Seemingly unbranded platforms

This is the largest base on which social and digital media runs: Comparatively unbranded content platforms. Most often, we do not even know the people behind these platforms. Due to paucity of funding, these platforms earn their revenue through digital advertisements. Every click and every view counts. It is unsurprising, then, that these platforms curate what they believe to be the most engaging content online. As the focus is more clicks and views, these platforms are not driven by which high-profile personality features in their content.

Let me give you an example. A top quality speech made in Parliament even by a not-so-high-profile MP could be given the same content space and airtime as, say, an intervention made by a first-rung Opposition leader like Akhilesh Yadav, Rahul Gandhi or Abhishek Banerjee. Both the legacy media and influencers will have to watch out for this alternative, which is sharp to garner more views and clicks.

The three different kinds of outlets carrying political content do not really need to jostle with each other. It’s not either/or. Legacy media cannot do what influencers are doing. Influencers cannot do what unbranded platforms are doing. Political parties and politicians that can harness the power of all three will win the perception battle. The one constant: Content is king.

The writer is MP and leader, All India Trinamool Congress Parliamentary Party (Rajya Sabha). Additional research: Varnika Mishra