Snapchat’s Political Coverage Ready to Ramp Up With Peter Hamby (Listen)
With the political conventions set to unfold next week, and the presidential race beginning the homestretch to November, coverage of the road to the election will intensify for news outlets of all kinds.
Add Snapchat to the mix. Though the app is better known as a social tool for its young-skewing audience, the range of content available on its Discover platform has always made political coverage part of its mandate.
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The tip of that spear since 2015 has been “Good Luck America,” an original series that has helped translate what’s happening on Capitol Hill to a Generation Z audience that is too easily misunderstood, according to host Peter Hamby.
“People think young folks are radical or they only care about climate change and marijuana,” he said on the latest episode of the Variety podcast “Strictly Business.” “It’s just not true. Young people are incredibly earnest. They are very skeptical of politics and much more disassociated with political parties than older generations.”
Previously with CNN, Hamby brings a credibility to the Snapchat platform that has had top-shelf guests in recent months, including Dr. Anthony Fauci and 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden. They’re also there because Snapchat happens to reach 90% of Americans aged 13-24; “Good Luck America” itself, which boasts 2.3 million subscribers, reached 10 million viewers with its coverage of the midterm elections in 2018.
Snap also just announced new features on the app that will encourage and simplify voter registration. Said Hamby, “The stakes are high, whichever side of the equation you are on, and we want to make it easy for people to get engaged with the world.”
“Strictly Business” is Variety’s weekly podcast featuring conversations with industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment. A new episode debuts each Wednesday and can be downloaded on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher and SoundCloud.
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