A recent report by Harmony Labs and the Democracy Communications Collaborative has shed light on the difficulties faced by pro-democracy media in reaching new audiences. The report, which analyzed over 300,000 behavioral media panelists and 50 randomized content tests, found that most pro-democracy content is reaching segments that are already convinced.

Challenges in Reaching New Audiences

The report identified eight distinct audience segments, each defined by values rather than demographics or party affiliation. It found that younger, politically mixed, skeptical audiences, such as the Investigate and Confront segments, consume heavily on YouTube and podcast platforms and distrust institutional framing.

Similarly, the Referee and Connect segments, though values-driven and reachable, primarily consume content through YouTube, podcasts, local news, and faith-adjacent platforms, and likewise exhibit skepticism toward institutional framing. This raises questions about the ability of pro-democracy content to reliably reach new audiences.

Conservative Donor Strategy

The report also highlights the intentional, sustained investment in platforms by conservative donors, which appears to be a defining feature of their strategy. Media is treated as infrastructure, regardless of short-term financial return, and success is measured not solely by financial metrics but by the movement of the Overton Window and proximity to regulatory and political power.

In contrast, pro-democracy donors and PACs have made similar investments, but at a fraction of the scale and with very different strategic logic. For example, Pod Save America has built a substantial audience and a sustainable business model, but the difference lies in the theory of change being pursued.

The challenge for pro-democracy media may not primarily be one of message development, but rather one of distribution. The report suggests that much of the pro-democracy media ecosystem continues to reach audiences that are already highly engaged and ideologically aligned, while many of the persuadable segments consume information through very different channels and ecosystems.

Original reporting: The Washington Informer — read the source article.