He is now one of the BBCs top presenters and hosts the UK broadcasters Americast podcast.
Broadcasting from Iowa, you could almost hear him craning his neck to absorb the new reality surrounding him.
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Its slightly depressing, to be honest, Webb says ruefully.
The BBC’s Justin Webb during his time as North America editorGetty
Theres not a lot of room for hope and change in the Obama lexicon.
Where there was once a so-called Trump bump for U.S. networks and websites, ratings are now in decline.
Viewing to the Iowa caucus plummeted 17% compared with 2016, according to news site Semafor.
Donald TrumpGetty
Fox News audience of 2.8M was down 36% when compared with the 2020 caucus.
They just want to get out of this funk, Webb tells Deadline.
Having said this, Webb is not blind to the BBCs unfavorable perception among Trump supporters.
Its important that those corridors of contact remain open.
We do try very hard to be fair to Trump and his people.
A lot of the American media have really given up on that.
Its interesting watching CNN being hostile to him, he says.
I can understand the American medias difficulties with Trump, but we can stay separate from it.
Webb was struck by CNN pulling away from Trumps Iowa victory speech amid concerns about disinformation.
Equally, Webb thinks this raises questions about censorship.
The BBC is wrestling with similar questions.
She acknowledged that the show could have signposted his inaccuracies more clearly.
Webb has been presentingAmericastsince August 2022 and is reveling in the space and nuance of podcasting.
I prefer the explorative.
Theres an absolute place for combat.
I very much support and applaud combative interviews.
With a podcast, youre able to allow people more space.
I would have no problem about talking to Tucker Carlson provided we recorded it.
