Limbaugh, Ailes and Mr Murdoch could have disagreements but shared fundamental conservative instincts. For decades Fox News and Limbaugh, alongside publications like National Review, kept Republican Party politicians in line with free markets, hawkish internationalism and fiscal and social conservatism. They did not always succeed in swaying powerful Republicans. Yet a dissenting or unsavoury figure had little way to get his message to a large audience of conservatives if he was banished from Fox News, talk radio or the pages of a few print publications.
Then came the internet. Blogs, podcasts and social media provided a way for a conservative journalist or pundit to become influential outside the established ecosystem. Mr Trump relied on conservative media to reach Republican voters in the 2016 primary, as all candidates did, but he alone could reset the newscycle with a tweet.
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