Under the influence
While Albanese and Dutton have sat down with podcasters and social media influencers during the campaign, traditional media is still the main game in politics — for now, at least.
Looking at the media coverage of what has been a relatively subdued election campaign, one theme has received outsized airtime: the rise of millennials and Gen Z to ‘median voter’ status.
It’s a demographic inevitability that comes with strategic implications. As John Buckley and Finn McHugh reported this morning, Labor has leaned aggressively into a parallel ecosystem of podcasters and social media influencers to target younger, low-information voters who are increasingly unreachable through conventional campaigning.
While influencers who spoke to Capital Brief said Labor’s efforts were more coherent, Peter Dutton has also ventured into the podcast circuit, notably sitting down for long-form chats with figures including Mark Bouris and Olympic diver Sam Fricker.
Both parties are clearly conscious of the international lessons here — most notably Donald Trump’s relentless appearances last year on a constellation of bro-ish American podcasts, which proved important in mobilising young male voters.
