The Donald and The Swarm

In a tweeted response to myPolitico essay on social media’s influence on the 2016 campaign, The Atlantic‘s political editor, Yoni Appelbaum, suggests that cable TV, rather than social media, is the real driver of the Trump phenomenon.He offers a chart as backup:

Nicholas Carr argues that Trump is a product of social media. Really? Here’s cable coverage: http://t.co/5sJKGIep0M pic.twitter.com/rNOWa4X2HC

— Yoni Appelbaum (@YAppelbaum) September 4, 2015

But does this media-mentions chart actual...