Why the Media Loves Hasan Piker

Another week, another article proclaiming Hasan Piker the media’s most relevant and unstoppable force. Two articles, actually.

One came from The Wall Street Journal: “Online Agitator Hasan Piker Is Driving Democrats Up a Wall.”

“The Twitch streamer has become an undeniable force in politics, elevating far-left and progressive candidates – and fighting with everyone else,” ran the subtitle.

Like all Piker-focused pieces, it talks about his audience of “millions,” discusses his controversial views, and seems to be somewhat charmed by him. Here’s how the author, Ashley Wong, relays the conversation:

“I’m rude,” Piker said matter-of-factly. “And I will sometimes bully bullies, right? But I would much rather be someone who’s not super well put-together, someone who doesn’t abide by civility, but is on the right side of history.”

But looking closer, it seems the article isn’t really about Piker’s views or influence. After all, it was written by a culture writer, who typically covers the Oscars and had never before filed a Journal article under “politics.” It counts only 1,400 words – relatively short for a glitzy profile – and features the below pictures, which aren’t exactly candids of him at work.

Three days prior, Rolling Stone published its own Piker profile, “Why Is Everyone Scared of Hasan Piker?”

The article reads: “Piker is a matinee-handsome progressive icon who’s uniquely talented at translating radical-left politics for Gen Z bros.” Like the Journal’s, it’s really about Piker’s looks:

Both so-called news articles would fit well in the newest edition of GQ. The pictures look good, professional, legitimizing. Important.

But they conceal a truth: Hasan Piker is not that popular.

You’d think someone who has been so repeatedly profiled by the world’s most important media institutions would be, undeniably, the most relevant and biggest. After all, no other streamer or young political commentator has drawn such attention or been so touted as capturing a generation.

To be sure, Piker is important and relevant. Among many metrics, he’s got 43 YouTube videos with over 1,000,000 views. Yet there’s another very different political streamer who had 46 videos with over one million views – in just the last month. Yet that streamer has never earned a profile in the legacy media.

I asked that streamer, Asmongold, why not.