11 Surprising Predictions for Right Wing Media in 2024
By Howard Polskin, January 1, 2024
Right wing media never failed to surprise me in 2023. I didn’t think disdain of Pride Month could get any worse, but of course it did (thank you Bud Light and Dylan Mulvaney). The attacks and name-calling directed at President Biden sank to levels below a high school locker room. And support for Trump kept building though out the year in inverse proportion to his mounting legal issues and revelations about his latest transgressions. It certainly doesn’t take a prognosticator who can see around corners to predict continued backing of Trump from right wing media as we sail into the choppy waters of the election year. Nonetheless, I foresee several surprising trends developing throughout the year in what right wing media will focus on. Here are just a dozen:
#1. Megyn Kelly Gets Anointed the Queen of Right Wing Media
The ex-Fox News anchor exited NBC News 2019 after an embarrassing on-air gaffe that almost scuttled her broadcasting career. Against all odds, she has orchestrated a successful second act rising to become the most popular female right wing podcaster. After her December 2023 star turn moderating the fourth GOP debate, things are looking even brighter for her in 2024. Kelly’s outspoken, sound-bite-friendly opinions get picked up regularly by reporters, which makes me think she’s got the best personal publicist in conservative media. Here’s the question for Kelly in 2024; How high is up? Wherever she’s going, right wing media – especially the NY Post which seems to publish quotes from her every day – will provide the hot air to carry her even further.
#2. Elise Stefanik Becomes One of Right Wing Media’s Political Darlings
Her evisceration of three college presidents who couldn’t provide simple answers to questions about antisemitism on campus, provided a meme for the ages and made her the top dragon-slayer of the woke at the end of the year. Based on her mighty made-for-Tik-Tok moment, the right wing media will surely anoint her as a rising power player in MAGA World and shower her with favorable coverage.
#3. Ron DeSantis, Punchline
In 2023, Ron DeSantis went from being a serious contender for the Oval Office to a late night punchline. As Trump’s fortune’s rise at least through the first half of 2024 at the expense of the Florida governor’s national political legacy, DeSantis it’s likely that he will become an object of derision by right wing media. If he’s lucky, he merely gets ignored.
#4. Tucker Carlson Struggles to Achieve Widespread Popularity Amongst the Right
The ex-Fox News motormouth made a splash at the end of the year with the launch of the Tucker Carlson Network, a $9 a month streaming platform. His rants and interviews with fringe players are likely to get quoted by right wing media and social networks, but his influence will suffer without the reach and promotional punch of a major media outlet like Fox News. Carlson may need to partner with a more established right wing entity to give him the larger footprint he needs. Are you listening Newsmax or The Daily Wire?
#5. Trump’s Trials Get Largely Overlooked (Except by the NY Post and Wall Street Journal)
The Donald’s four upcoming trials will be hard to ignore, even for the most Trump-loving media. If right wing pundits write at all, they will provide commentary in support of the Maestro of Mar-a-Lago and express how he’s being persecuted unfairly. Murdoch’s two newspapers will be among the few outliers to view his legal woes with a more critical eye.
#6. Jill Biden Lands in the Crosshairs
It doesn’t take a wizard to predict that right wing media will be all over the president’s age and Hunter’s latest sins, real or imagined. But Jill may also be tarred by the right in an effort to throw as much shade on the Biden family as possible. The year ended with social media and right wing media mocking her Christmas decorations and that tone will carry over into the election year.
#7. Melania Gets the Hagiography Treatment
The world’s strangest marriage (tied with Bill and Hillary) is rarely mentioned by right wing media. That trend will continue in 2024. Any crack in their marriage could hurt Trump’s reelection chances but right wing media will be inclined to the other way. The prediction here is for fawning coverage about her poise, makeup, clothes and devotion to Baron. In other words, it’s déjà all over again.
#8. The Damning and Slamming of DEI Intensifies
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion goals were always a reliable punching bag for right wing media. But with DEI fatigue setting in across corporate America and college right wing media will ramp up criticism of the DEI movement particularly as young minority groups show support for Hamas.
#9. The Daily Wire Becomes a Multimedia Giant on the Right
Podcast colossus. Check. Feature film producer. Check. Children’s entertainment producer. Check. Website giant. Check. Social media force. Check. The Daily Wire blossomed into a full-fledged 360-degree news and entertainment company in 2023. (See Bloomberg profile.) What’s coming in 2024? Who knows for sure about the privately held company. But it’s a safe bet to expect more innovative content in the fictional and non-fictional realms curated and produced for right wing audiences of all ages.
#10. Renewed Skepticism About the Covid Vaccine
If Covid makes a vengeful return engagement in 2024, as some experts predict, look for right wing media outlets to turn up the volume questioning the effectiveness of the vaccine. And outlets on the fringes will push stories about supposedly healthy young adults and athletes who dropped dead after getting the jab. Just what we didn’t need. More disinformation.
#11. If Trump Loses 2024, Right Wing Media Will Cry Foul
Easiest prediction of the year. And least surprising.
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Against all odds, Megyn Kelly has orchestrated a successful second act rising to become the most popular female right wing podcaster. Right wing media outlets will provide the hot air to carry her to even greater heights in 2024. (Image: Wikimedia Commonds)
