Kamala Harris: Charting Her Next Steps in Media Engagement
Vice President Kamala Harris has navigated a series of significant milestones recently, including hosting a major convention, participating in a heated debate, and conducting her inaugural sit-down interview with a prominent television network. Now, the pressing question for her media strategists is: What should be her next move?
As the timeline approaches Election Day, and with former President Donald J. Trump currently opting out of further debates, Ms. Harris faces the challenge of effectively introducing herself to voters who still harbor questions about her policies and vision for the nation.
Throughout her 2020 campaign and the early stages of her vice presidency, Ms. Harris encountered notable difficulties during unscripted interactions with journalists. In a bid to mitigate risks, she has engaged in only six interviews over the past 58 days since President Biden suspended his campaign, with three of those interviews being with sympathetic radio hosts. In comparison, even the historically reserved Mr. Biden managed to field more questions during the final months of his campaign than Ms. Harris has during her initial weeks in this role.
Her team asserts that a shift is on the horizon, with plans for a variety of appearances across diverse media platforms, encompassing local and national news outlets, podcasts, radio shows, and popular daytime talk programs.
On the agenda, she recorded an interview with Stephanie Himonidis, better known as Chiquibaby, a Spanish-language radio personality whose show has a broad reach across over 100 stations. Following that, Ms. Harris is set to engage with three journalists at an event organized by the National Association of Black Journalists, a similar venue where Mr. Trump faced tough questioning back in July.
“If you want to understand the types of initiatives we plan to pursue, just look at the activities she was involved in throughout the year leading up to the ticket switch,” stated Brian Fallon, a senior adviser for Ms. Harris’s campaign, in a recent interview. He was referring to her consistent media presence before she took the helm of the ticket from Mr. Biden.
