American conservative historian Victor Hanson Davis wrote of the assassination last week of Charlie Kirk, co-founder of the hugely influential Turning Point USA:

“The United States crossed the Rubicon with the assassination of the most gifted political organiser, media figure, and activist under 40 in the nation. America can be a violent society, but we usually do not murder major media figures. Now we do. And no one knows what comes next.”

In death as in his short 31-year life, Kirk divided opinion just as much as he did his deeply split country. Kirk was – in modern parlance – an ‘influencer’ with enormous reach and consequence. Kirk who enjoyed mutual loathing with the left-liberal side of the US divide, was hugely admired by conservative forces, his videos and podcasts and sell out campus speech events reached millions, in both the US and elsewhere in the world.

President Donald J Trump did not just mourn his death and dignify his assassination with the sort of tributes usually reserved for major political figures (flags flown at half-mast and posthumous award of the presidential Medal of Freedom). He had during Kirk’s lifetime acknowledged the large role that Kirk, a onetime college dropout, had played in his return to the White House last year.

For example, among TikTok users who voted for Trump in 2024, Kirk was rated the most trusted individual on that platform.

As The Economist noted in the aftermath of the assassination: “[Kirk] may have helped Mr Trump retake the presidency. In last year’s election Kamala Harris’s margin of victory among young voters was 12 points lower than Joe Biden’s in 2020, a bigger swing than in any other age group.”

There are a lot of unknowns in the aftermath of last week’s shooting and what it means for America and indeed for Western democracies going forward. And, like the life and contributions of Charlie Kirk to the civic discourse, much of it will be contested.

But what is inarguable is how the media landscape (TikTok, Snapchat, podcasts, YouTube, Instagram) have altered everything – how news is curated, delivered and received and who it influences.

Charlie Kirk was a big and controversial figure in life. After his death the disruption of legacy media outlets and the rise of new young influencers will gather pace even more.

– Tony Leon
Executive Chairman