Other supporters feel that Trump has given them a platform from which to express their views. Natalie E. Crawford, a 24 year-old Trump supporter from Chicago, said that the media’s diversity problem is concerning mainly because of gaps in coverage. Citing individual liberty and national security as pressing issues that the media fails to cover, she said that “today’s media doesn’t speak for anyone” due to its corporate and for-profit structure. “Trump is challenging the status quo of every major news source in the country,” she says. “He … has taken much of the control of the conversation away from all media singlehandedly.”

Trump has left reporters facing a difficult balancing act. Cover him too much, and the targets of his rhetoric will feel twice attacked. Cover him too little, and his supporters will feel dismissed, bolstering his appeal.

Trump’s rise has exposed a gap between the views many Americans hold, and those that are commonly aired in the media. Williams says, “[Trump] is forcing America to realize that there is a large group of Americans who are skeptical of the media, of policy experts, who believe that blunt criticism and simple policies (oftentimes targeted towards marginalizing less powerful groups) would be better for America. And for the moment, those people love Trump for legitimizing their views.”