President Joe Biden gave no exclusive interview to a major network. There were no news leaks from his inner circle or campaign to The New York Times or Washington Post.
Heather Woodward, Director, External Communications and Community Impact at H&R Block, saw Biden’s letter announcing his withdrawal from the presidential race while scrolling Instagram. After seeing the same image three times in her feed, she informed her parents to turn on the TV.
Maria Hayes, Director of Internal Communications for the Franciscan Friars, saw the letter reposted on several journalists’ accounts on X (formerly known as Twitter). She spent an hour trying to find evidence that the statement was real because the White House website had not yet released a formal press release.
Miriam Schwartz, Senior Copywriter at EF Education First, saw it on NBA reporter for The Athletic, Shams Charania’s Instagram feed.
Anna TenBroek, Director at Weber Shandwick, received a text with a link to Biden’s X post from a friend. She immediately went to news sources for verification, but didn’t see anything confirmed for “what felt like a really long time.” Then she finally got a news push from The New York Times.
At first glance, it seems as though the Biden communications team beat the media to the punch, controlling the narrative. Social media posts on Biden’s accounts instead of news alerts circulated the information first—something that is common to the world of sports and entertainment, but not as regular when it comes to political news.
“Social media, even without video or audio components, has become a more popular means to deliver short statements that can speak for themselves,” says Brett Bruen, President at Global Situation Room and former Director of Global Engagement at The White House. “This did not need to be all about Biden. He was exiting stage left.”
Where Consumers are Getting Their News
According to an informal poll taken by PRNEWS, the majority of responders found out about Biden ending his campaign through a friend or family member’s social media post or text. Over 20% saw the information directly from Biden’s personal accounts, while a third still found out via news alert.
And while news alerts and outlet updates still count in regards to confirming breaking news from social media, data continues to show that a majority of Americans receive their news from those digital platforms.
A recent study from Sprout Social on consumer behavior and the 2024 presidential election shows that 75% of respondents strongly/somewhat agree that social media has become their primary source for news and updates related to the 2024 presidential election. This goes up to 84% for Gen Z and 84.5% for Millennials.
Was Biden’s News Rollout Effective?
Getting ahead of the news media, speaking directly to the American people through a written statement—President Biden certainly made a splash on Sunday afternoon. Particularly at a time most people were not expecting breaking news, and not when he’d be at his best.
Bruen surmised that the strategy worked surprisingly well, because instead of seeing images of a frail, sickly Biden, the public saw a positive message and response.
“There were clearly limitations due to the fact President Biden had COVID,” Bruen says. “His campaign did not want to further fuel attacks on his suitability to serve out the remainder of his term with a less than stellar delivery, even in a taped message. So, opting for a social post put the news out there, and interestingly allowed Vice President Kamala Harris to shine even more [with his endorsement]. He enabled [Harris] to appropriately become more of the focus.”
Bruen thinks we may see even more executives opt for this route and utilize short social media posts to announce changes in leadership.
“The key component is to ensure that like the Biden campaign, you are able to quickly follow with amplifiers and validators who will help shape and push your message forward.”
Nicole Schuman is Managing Editor at PRNEWS.
