“We’re At War With The Camera”
Also inside: Gov. Newsom is building his war chest, ICE protests have broken out in Roblox, and more
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Hi folks 👋 Scott here again. “BUT, WE MISS LUCY.” I know, I know. Change is tough. I’ll be guest-writing for the next few weeks while COURIER onboards the next FWIW author.
This week, we’ll dive into the top ad spenders as usual (featuring a new #1 on Meta!). Then, we’ll explore what the battle for defining last week’s events in Los Angeles can teach us about how to win narrative control online.
And a quick reminder: COURIER is having a party on Thursday, June 26th, in DC, and you’re invited! They’ll be celebrating the launch of brand-new podcasts and digital series, as well as sharing an exclusive first look at upcoming shows. RSVP here >>>
More below, but first…
Digital ad spending, by the numbers:
FWIW, U.S. political advertisers spent about $13 million on Facebook and Instagram ads last week. Here were the top ten spenders nationwide:
This week, Gavin Newsom’s Campaign for Democracy Committee rocketed to the number 1 spot with $530,000 spent on ads asking for donations. These ads jumped on Newsom’s national attention surrounding the LA protests and his battle with Trump over the deployment of the California National Guard: they feature simple images of Newsom, Trump & Newsom, and a text screenshot. They ran nationwide on Facebook and Instagram, with, as expected, a particular focus on California.
Meanwhile, political advertisers spent just over $3.8 million on Google and YouTube ads last week. These were the top ten spenders nationwide:
As a new addition to this week’s top 10, the Andrew Cuomo super PAC Fix the City Inc. took to Google & YouTube to blast Zohran Mamdani with two new video ads. The first described how Mamdani wants “higher taxes,” while the second highlighted how electing Mamdani would lead to “fewer cops.” Fix the City Inc. is the largest outside spender in NYC’s political history and is being funded by major donors, including DoorDash, real estate developer Peter Fine, hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, and former NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg. Interestingly, some of Cuomo’s largest donors also donated to Trump 2024.
On X (formerly Twitter), political advertisers in the U.S. have spent around $4.2 million on ads in 2025. According to X’s political ad disclosure, here are the top spenders year to date:
Proud Patriots is a MAGA-forward brand that sells conservative and Trump-friendly merch. Their ads feature cheeky birthday cards written how Trump writes tweets. The ads also feature Trump reading the cards. Though, as we talked about last week, my guess is that these voiceovers were generated by AI.
…and lastly, on Snapchat, political advertisers in the U.S. have spent around $930,700 on ads in 2025. Here are the top spenders year to date:
Tired of burning money with Care2 or Meta ads?
It’s 2025, and groups like Common Cause, Earthjustice, and Amnesty International are leaning on Civic Shout to acquire ROI-positive donors and activists. See how you can, too.
“We’re At War With The Camera”
Two weeks ago, President Trump federalized California National Guard troops and sent them into Los Angeles. This kicked off a national conversation about ICE’s cruel treatment of immigrants and American citizens, as well as the Left’s worst fears about the risks posed by the Trump administration. Countless traditional media and social posts were published. One, in particular, caught my eye.
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This video from Justin Scott outlines “LA Win Conditions.” After a few minutes, Justin lands on what I believe is an essential point for understanding the daily battle for narrative control online. “We are at war with the camera…any Democrat or leftist that’s been looking for an angle…the camera is the most vulnerable it’s ever been.”
Let’s break that down. Think of the camera as a representation of what’s shown to Americans each day. What are traditional publications covering? What’s showing up on social media feeds? Using Los Angeles as an example, we’re going to examine what it might take for the Left to win a war against the camera. But to win, we first need to understand that none of us are playing on a neutral field.
To quote the renowned media theorist Marshall McCluan: “The medium is the message.” This means that the characteristics of a communication medium (radio, television, social media) shape how we perceive the information, perhaps more than the content itself.
For example, the push for civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s was bolstered by the popularization of television. For the first time, Americans across the country had a window to witness the brutality of the segregated South. Civil rights leaders knew this and strategically planned protests to increase media visibility. One such example was John Lewis’s march across the Edmund Pettis Bridge, now known as “Bloody Sunday.”
Today’s media ecosystem, driven by social media, has its own biases. Content that generates engagement (comments, shares, likes) rises to the top. What motivates people to engage? Conflict. Emotion. Societal rifts. Extreme perspectives. Our media ecosystem is not neutral, and we need to wrap our perspectives into packages that fit the medium’s preferences.
So, thinking about the events in Los Angeles, how well did the Left – and others – package its perspective? Was it a protest or a riot? The answer likely depends on what you saw and where you concentrated your focus.
If you came away thinking they were protests, your feeds were probably filled with things like Doechii’s fiery BET Awards speech. Images of peaceful protesters standing up to the police. The video of ICE arresting SEIU President David Huerta. Or sarcastic jokes about the city “clearly burning to the ground.” For more examples, here are the top three videos (oh hey, Mark Ruffalo) when I search “LA protests” and filter by most-liked in the last week.
If you came away thinking they were riots, your feeds probably focused on different things. Masked protesters waving Mexican flags. Mayor Karen Bass ordering a curfew in downtown LA. Waymo’s on fire. Journalists do love a good fire, don’t they?
All of these things happened (to some degree), of course. A key task in the political digital space is to package and amplify the information that supports your perspective. And to do that, it bears saying: the Left needs to build narrative infrastructure. Because right now, we on the Left are not keeping up.
Conservatives invested in building information infrastructure much earlier than liberals. Consequently, they now have a media ecosystem full of conservative sources (Fox News, the Daily Wire) and conservative celebrities (Jordan Peterson, Charlie Kirk, Brett Cooper). As I’m sure you remember, earlier this year, Media Matters shared this now viral graphic highlighting the gulf between the audiences for conservative-friendly and liberal-friendly podcasts in this now-famous graphic.
If folks on the Left want to win the messaging war, they need to invest. Organizations like MeidasTouch, COURIER, More Perfect Union, Inequality Media, and many more are up and coming. But these alone will not cut it. We need to build the tracks upon which we’ll share our information. Because more national moments of resistance will come. And when they do, we'd better be ready.
Tired of burning money with Care2 or Meta ads?
It’s 2025, and groups like Common Cause, Earthjustice, and Amnesty International are leaning on Civic Shout to acquire ROI-positive donors and activists. See how you can, too.
More from around the internet:
In case you didn’t hear, last Saturday’s ‘No Kings’ protest may have been the single largest day of protest in American history. And that protest wasn’t only in the streets. They are also protesting ICE in Roblox?!
This Tuesday, June 24, is Primary Day in NYC! Will Zohran Mamdani’s very-online campaign earn him the Democratic nomination? Will Andrew Cuomo notch a win in his quest for a comeback? I would say to “STAY TUNED ON TUESDAY NIGHT”, but if it’s a close race, it could take a while until we know the final result.
I can’t stop thinking about how Gen Z is reversing the trend of each generation being less religious than the previous generation. If you’re curious, here’s Vox’s breakdown in print and in a podcast.
ICYMI – this clip of Tucker Carlson embarrassing Ted Cruz for his lack of knowledge about Iran (a country in which Cruz is calling for regime change) is really something.
That’s it for FWIW this week. This email was sent to 24,369 readers. If you enjoy reading this newsletter each week, would you mind sharing it on X/Twitter, Threads, or Bluesky? Have a tip, idea, or feedback? Reply directly to this email.
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Feckin' spot on analysis of media infrastructure mismatch between Left and Right. Nicely done.