The top election storylines from 2024

Plus, is Doritos about to have a Bud Light moment? [View this email in your browser]( The top election storylines from 2024 More than half the world’s population in at least 76 countries will go to the polls this year, making 2024 the year of global elections. As election coverage begins to intensify, we’ll be exploring the topics and issues that dominate the political landscape. Our [first report]( looks at early coverage of the US election, from topics such as healthcare, abortion, and immigration, to how different candidates drive different degrees of attention. As far as topics go, immigration has received the most public interest from the American public in this stage of the election cycle, with nearly 5 million engagements with articles about it. The biggest peak in public interest came at the end of January when an issue began escalating at the Texas border, which we dive deeper into in the report. Here are some other major insights you will learn about: - Brands have the potential to be pulled into conversations about the economy as we approach the election, as well as discourse about ‘wokeness’ - New topics of interest, such as deep fakes and the candidates’ age, have become more central to election discourse this year - Biden’s most engaged coverage tended to come from conservative sites, while Trump’s coverage came from all over You can download the full report [here]( for all the insights. A Bud Light moment for Doritos? Could Doritos be in danger of having its own ‘Bud Light’ moment? We’re certainly seeing some early correlation and repeating patterns when we compare the first 72 hours of each issue, as the chart below shows. We also did a [video on this situation this morning]( if you’ve a couple of minutes to spare. For context, Doritos in Spain recently ended a partnership with influencer Samantha Hudson after old tweets resurfaced. Hudson is transgender, and the situation has immediately been [compared in some places]( to the Bud Light & Dylan Mulvaney situation by those who are criticizing Doritos. The early coverage of the issue has certainly been similar, and media interest has actually been a little higher for the Doritos issue in the first few hours of coverage, though public interest in the Bud Light situation really began to take off on day three of coverage. There have been calls from many of those involved in the Bud Light criticism, including accounts such as Libs of TikTok, to make this another Bud Light moment. The obvious difference here, though, is that Doritos has already moved to end the relationship with the influencer before public interest went parabolic. As such, it remains to be seen whether such a campaign would be effective, but it’s certainly an issue to keep an eye on in the next few days. 2024 ELECTION REPORT Our first report looking at early coverage of the US election [Read report→]( FROM REACTIVE TO PROACTIVE How to go from reactive to proactive comms with NewsWhip [Read blog →]( REPORT: INFLUENCE THROUGH INSIGHT How comms leaders are bringing wider understanding to management decisions [Read report →]( LINKEDIN DOUBLES DOWN ON NEWS LinkedIn is investing more in journalism  and news [Read article →]( [Twitter icon]( [Website icon]( [LinkedIn icon]( Copyright (C) 2024 NewsWhip. All rights reserved. You're receiving this email because you opted in for the NewsWhip blog newsletter and updates. Our mailing address is: NewsWhip 42 Pearse Street Dublin, D02 YX88 Ireland Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe](