Just some random thoughts.
If Biden does actually win, what then for US media?
I suggest the only sensible thing for them to do is to seek a Trudeau-style settlement with the government.
However, note the recent switch from "Trump" to "Trumpism" ... US media has found out that witch-hunts are pretty good ratings magnets, so I wonder if a US media directly funded by government is simply going to go to town on anyone who doesn't immediately, unconditionally, surrender themselves to the mob.
Do you not remember the "Scandal Free" administration? This extreme bias is the norm now, not some exception to be on the lookout for.
They'll be able to coast by for a while on COVID and blaming Trump for everything that goes wrong with the Biden administration.
The need for new targets means they'll continue moving the Overton window to the left, and some outlets may themselves become targets. Communists and other authoritarians always end up stabbing others in the back to consolidate their power.
They've been eating themselves for a while now. The NYT had several internal revolts because the old guard wasn't radical enough. Greenwald quit the Intercept which he founded because they got too radical. And some founder at Vox (IIRC) quit because radicals had take over.
My guess is that the next step for the legacy media if Biden wins is a 4-year long witch hunt. Go after Trump, go after the people who supported Trump, do everything in their power to rake them over the coals and get ratings by letting the brainwashed masses enjoy their suffering.
Mind you, if Biden does get elected then I'd be surprised if there isn't a significant amount of civil unrest. The largest militia in the USA has already said that they won't accept it, and I think every politically active Republican (and a number of moderate Democrats) agrees that if the Democrats are allowed to get away with this blatant fraud, then no election from this point onward can be trusted.
Welcome to currrent year Germany where the media declares everyone who's critical of the left or Merkel to be literally Hitler.
I agree that the hunt for so-called "Trumpists" will happen. If someone does something negative, I'm sure they'll try to mention it if they supported Trump.
I do think that they'll criticize Biden as well, whenever he doesn't go along with the far left "progressives".
The MSM don't care about ratings, they're paid to produce and spread propaganda.
Do you not agree that Trump's ideology is distinct from previous Republican ideology?
Trump doesn't have an ideology. He has a personality, and a slogan.
"Trumpism" is the term the media used to impugn Trump for his egregious refusal to lie still while they evacuate their bowels all over him, just like they have for the last two decade's Republican candidates.
When Trump exits stage left, they'll continue using the term to defame anyone who refuses to bow to their narrative.
That is actually a bloody good way to put it, and one I shall steal going forward.
It may also explain the left's lack of success attacking the man. Their toolbox is set up to strike at the underlying ideology and undermine it, reduce it down to nothing with postmodern sophistry. Trump presents a much smaller target on this front.
Populist nationalism is the basics of what Trump's movement is centered on.
Previous republicans were neocons and globalists, which is to say they were duplicitous liars who consistently sold out their constituents and did little or nothing to promote "our" ideogy. Trump is actually adhering to the values espoused - but inevitably abandoned - by previous republicans. Does that make him a new kind of republican, or just an honest one?