I am suspicious of anyone who monetizes social media clout as their main source of income, as it presents too many incentives to spout bullshit. Direct payments from foreign nationals, special interest groups, etc are one form. So is the Nick Fuentes model of just being controversial and inflammatory all of the time, i.e. ragebaiting.
Trump was a famous New York billionaire playboy before I was born and isn’t exactly a master of social media or even public speaking, so I have a hard time believing that the entire saga of his political career is some manufactured drama. If it is, it is the most convincing political drama ever staged. His actual policy enactments still lead me to believe that he’s what he has always claimed to be, at least far more so than any other President of my life. He was never supposed to be president, which is why the uniparty of Washington D.C. united against him.
For local news, which is what matters most, there is literally no such thing as straightforward professional journalists covering Maine or Lewiston politics. All of Maine’s largest newspapers were bought out by a Soros nonprofit a few years ago in addition to receiving millions of “marketing” payments from the Mills administration, hidden in plain sight on the purchase orders.
The Maine Wire is the best we have, and they are also a nonprofit who are funded by a guy named Leonard Leo. They’re fantastic right now as opposition media, but I doubt they’d have the same tenacity if Maine ever flipped red.
The best source of local news for me are the handful of neighbors who diligently watch all of the city council and school committee meetings. I watch a lot myself, too, but not every minute of them like some people. Some are excruciatingly long.
When the journalism business stops doing journalism, you have to do it yourself or it doesn’t get done at all. For national-level social media worth following, DataRepublican is my #1 favorite account on X. I’m sure she makes good money off of social media, but she already made good money by being a genius computer scientist. CynicalPublius is another great account who offers analysis grounded in real experience and a lack of political ambition.
One of Maine’s best sources is just a guy who calls up government offices and plays dumb to see what they say. Here’s his fake call to my local DMV inquiring about getting a driver’s license for a foreign national who doesn’t speak English and ran over a pedestrian in his home country. No major newspaper will report on this in Maine.