It's a loss we must accept. The American presidential campaign is accelerating the disappearance of traditional media, whether TV or print. This development has already been visible for years but has intensified in recent months. These outlets continue to play their part – conducting investigations, deploying their considerable manpower on the ground, following candidates on the trail and chronicling both casual and big moments. However, this evolution in the information landscape coincides with an unparalleled political context.

The shift is well-known: information is now consumed in silos. In a powerfully polarized society, people prefer to listen to opinions that conform to their own, in echo chambers based on identity, ideology, politics, religion etc. The appearance of Kamala Harris on Fox News on October 16, feels like an exceptional transgression. The US has entered an era of fragmentation, where powerful podcasts, led by hosts who are proud not to be journalists, reign supreme. These are the new mainstream voices.

The political context, for its part, is very particular. Both candidates have a problem with contradiction. This is particularly obvious in the case of Donald Trump, who thinks only in terms of loyalty or hostility. At 78, questions about his cognitive state are growing. Harris, a latecomer to the race, does not excel in traditional interviews, during which she loses her spontaneity. She also remembers Hillary Clinton's desperately classic 2016 campaign. So, as in the mid-term elections two years ago, we are in the presence of parallel campaigns, with no national dialogue. The absence of a second televised debate shortly before the election means that each side is trying to win over voters segment by segment.

The White House-accredited press has long been frustrated. Joe Biden's entourage had put the president out of reach, to limit interactions with journalists and avoid questions about his deteriorating cognitive and physical abilities. Harris also tries to limit unforeseen and uncomfortable situations. Neither have given substantial interviews to the daily press, nor to the weekly Time magazine, which nonetheless ran its traditional front-page story on what kind of president the Democrat would be. Trump, on the other hand, had responded to this invitation. For Harris, this express campaign is not a test of her skills before experts – that would reveal continuity with the Biden era and its pragmatism – but a personality test in front of the general public.

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