Every election has its own migrant caravan.
October is a tense month in American politics. The closer a political campaign gets to Election Day, the more vulnerable it is to an “October Surprise” — a late-breaking scandal or controversy that influences voters in the final days of an election.
An “October surprise” is typically thought of as an unexpected event that surprises both sides of an election: natural disasters, terrorist attacks, etc. But more recently, it’s come to describe an intentional campaign strategy, wherein political operatives intentionally exploit late-breaking news stories to try to damage their opponents at the last minute.
President Donald Trump’s fixation on the migrant caravan traveling to the United States is a clear example of that strategy — it’s an attempt to shift the media’s attention away from issues like health care with fearmongering about immigrants.
It’s a cheap political ploy, and many news networks have recognized it as such. The problem is, there’s no great way to fight it.
You can find this video and all of Vox’s videos on YouTube. Subscribe for more episodes of Strikethrough, our series exploring the media in the age of Trump.
Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?
Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on:
First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.
Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. And we can’t do that if we have a paywall.
So even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader support. (And no matter how our work is funded, we have strict guidelines on editorial independence.)
If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Any amount helps.
Yes, I'll give $5/month
Yes, I'll give $5/month
We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and
Google Pay. You can also contribute via