Post by robeiae on Sept 23, 2020 7:55:29 GMT -5
Is there one? Does Rogan matter, when it comes to politics and political contests?
I happen to be the world's greatest Newsradio fan (a sitcom from the nineties) and let me tell you, it's positively astounding how much the character Rogan played on the show is like the public persona of Rogan now, from the MMA fascination, to conspiracy theories, to libertarian ideas, it's all there. And I wonder if Rogan had a hand in shaping the character (Joe Garelli, fyi) and/or if the character shaped Rogan in some ways.
Anyway, here's Greenwald on Rogan: theintercept.com/2020/09/22/as-joe-rogans-platform-grows-so-does-the-media-and-liberal-backlash-why/
Pardon my French, but WTF?!?! $100 million? I had no idea. My son watches Rogan's stuff all the time (he's19), as do many of his friends, though mostly his guy friends.
This is impressive, if it's true.
Anyway, Greenwald asks this question:
I invite you all to read on, as he tries to answer it. He eventually nails it, imo:
Damn, that's spot on!
So how significant might those voters be, who are more Rogan-liberal than they are Maddow-liberal? Are their enough of them to tilt various races (The Presidency isn't the only race on the ballot, after all)?
Taibbi, fwiw, seems to respect Rogan for exactly what he is and has been on Rogan's show multiple times (which I guess is another reason the far left is so pissed at Taibbi).
Anyway, thoughts?
I happen to be the world's greatest Newsradio fan (a sitcom from the nineties) and let me tell you, it's positively astounding how much the character Rogan played on the show is like the public persona of Rogan now, from the MMA fascination, to conspiracy theories, to libertarian ideas, it's all there. And I wonder if Rogan had a hand in shaping the character (Joe Garelli, fyi) and/or if the character shaped Rogan in some ways.
Anyway, here's Greenwald on Rogan: theintercept.com/2020/09/22/as-joe-rogans-platform-grows-so-does-the-media-and-liberal-backlash-why/
JOE ROGAN HAS AMASSED one of the largest and most influential media platforms in U.S. politics, if not the single most influential. The value of his program was quantified in May when the streaming service Spotify paid a reported $100 million for the exclusive rights to broadcast his podcast.
As one illustrative example of his reach, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden appeared on Rogan’s program six days ago, and the episode has already been viewed more than 5 million times on YouTube alone. The first time Snowden appeared on his program was last October, and that episode, just on YouTube, has more than 16 million views. To put that in perspective: The top-rated cable news programs are the Fox News shows hosted by Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity, and they average between 4 to 5 million viewers, or one-fourth the number of views Rogan’s discussion with Snowden generated.
As one illustrative example of his reach, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden appeared on Rogan’s program six days ago, and the episode has already been viewed more than 5 million times on YouTube alone. The first time Snowden appeared on his program was last October, and that episode, just on YouTube, has more than 16 million views. To put that in perspective: The top-rated cable news programs are the Fox News shows hosted by Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity, and they average between 4 to 5 million viewers, or one-fourth the number of views Rogan’s discussion with Snowden generated.
Presidential candidates certainly recognize Rogan’s importance: All of the major Democratic candidates, according to him, requested to appear on his show. (The only ones he invited on were Bernie Sanders, Tulsi Gabbard, and Andrew Yang.)
Anyway, Greenwald asks this question:
What are the standards that make Michael Bloomberg an acceptable endorsement to tout but not Joe Rogan, given that the billionaire three-term mayor and former Republican has taken far worse positions and done far more damage to far more people than the podcaster could ever dream of doing?
While Rogan is politically liberal, he is — argues former Obama 2008 campaign strategist and Rogan listener Shant Mesrobian — culturally conservative, by which he does not mean that Rogan holds conservative views on social issues (again, he is pro-choice and pro-LGBT rights). He means that Rogan exudes culturally conservative signals: He likes MMA fighting, makes crude jokes, hunts, and just generally fails to speak in the lingo of the professional managerial class and coastal elites. And it is those cultural standards, rather than political ones, that make Rogan anathema to elite liberal culture because, Mesrobian argued in a viral Twitter thread, liberals care far more about proper culture signaling than they do about the much harder and more consequential work of actual politics.
So how significant might those voters be, who are more Rogan-liberal than they are Maddow-liberal? Are their enough of them to tilt various races (The Presidency isn't the only race on the ballot, after all)?
Taibbi, fwiw, seems to respect Rogan for exactly what he is and has been on Rogan's show multiple times (which I guess is another reason the far left is so pissed at Taibbi).
Anyway, thoughts?