News Outlets Could Benefit From Another Trump Bump

When Donald J. Trump pulled off a surprise victory against Hillary Clinton in 2016, the news media was a major beneficiary, as viewers stayed glued to cable news and readers signed up for newspaper subscriptions in droves.

Eight years later, Mr. Trump’s definitive White House victory could lead to another spike of audience interest in the news — at least in the short term — numerous experts said.

The NYTimes reports cable news ratings, subscriptions to digital news organizations and philanthropic giving will probably increase, as audiences sort through a news-intensive post-election period. But that enthusiasm could wear off in the coming weeks and months as viewers become exhausted by the relentless news cycle.

“Trump 2.0 will likely be a very different administration than we saw before,” said Frank Sesno, a professor at George Washington University and a former Washington bureau chief of CNN. “That will carry immense consequences and news value. It will energize right-wing media, and it will panic the left.”

The New York Times, The Washington Post and other newspapers saw a sudden influx of subscriptions in 2016 as readers puzzled through the consequences of Mr. Trump’s initial victory. Those news organizations capitalized on that surge with ad campaigns embracing new readers and, in the case of The Washington Post, adopting a slogan that underscored a commitment to aggressive reporting: “Democracy Dies in Darkness.”

David Clinch, a revenue consultant for Media Growth Partners, a media advisory firm, said that he thought news organizations would see another uptick in customers, but that it would be more muted than in the first Trump administration, because some readers have become fed up with or exhausted by mainstream news coverage.

Clinch said he expected news organizations to begin fine-tuning marketing campaigns to reach specific readers who might have heightened interest in the news after the election.