That tan outline is The Donald’s down-sized expenditures for self promotion these days. Unlike most of the others, The Donald is already a ‘household name’ ...
by Nicholas Confessore and Karen Yourish, The Upshot, nytimes.com — Mar 15, 2016
Of all the ways Donald Trump has shocked the political system, one of the most significant is how he wins primary after primary with one of the smallest campaign budgets.
He still doesn’t have a super PAC. He skimped on ground organization and field offices. Most important, he spent less on television advertising [...] than any other major candidate [...]
But Mr. Trump is hardly absent from the airwaves. Like all candidates, he benefits from what is known as earned media: news and commentary about his campaign on television, in newspapers and magazines, and on social media. Earned media typically dwarfs paid media in a campaign. The big difference between Mr. Trump and other candidates is that he is far better than any other candidate — maybe than any candidate ever — at earning media.
What is “earned media” and how does one go about earning it? Does simply being the biggest asshat in the crowd, translate to guaranteed coverage — cause afterall their audacity has ‘earned it’?
Well wikipedia gives a few sidebars around this disturbing new Media-distribution concept …
Earned media (or free media) refers to publicity gained through promotional efforts other than advertising, as opposed to paid media, which refers to publicity gained through advertising.[1]
[...] Owned media is defined as communication channels that are within one's control, such as websites, blogs, or email; while paid media refers mostly to traditional advertising. Earned media, on the other hand, is generated when content receives recognition and a following outside of traditional paid advertising, through communication channels such as social media and word of mouth.[2]
Earned media often refers specifically to publicity gained through editorial influence, whereas social media refers to publicity gained through grassroots action, particularly on the Internet. The media may include any mass media outlets, such as newspaper, television, radio, and the Internet, and may include a variety of formats, such as news articles or shows, letters to the editor, editorials, and polls on television and the Internet. Critically, earned media cannot be bought or owned, it can only be gained organically, hence the term 'earned'.
So both Earned Media and Paid Media are about “gaining Publicity”.
One channel is about paying for exposure, and one about driving the content that creates the exposure.
I think this can basically be boiled down to the old idea of being a “household name”. Or as the Cambridge dictionary puts it: “a famous person that most people know of”.
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Some people are ‘just famous, for being famous’ … and the more famous they are, the more they can ‘earn’ (ie claim) their Free-Media way. They’re already part of its celebrity culture.
Which makes them Newsworthy is in the eyes of the captive audiences. Whether or not in their eyes, fame can ever be turned to infamy, is one Media script-turning cycle, that’s still yet to be seen.
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By the way, the Google Dictionary defines infamy as, “the state of being well known for some bad quality or deed.” And that’s the more charitable definition that’s out there.
Even though, it would seem that Candidate Asshat, has more than a few of these infamous “qualities” — the Media “worm has not yet turned” — to make him pay his own publicity way.
What gives?
Could it be that for some celebs, their bank-vaults of “fame” actually trump their so called “bad qualities” — which afterall all good anti-heroes necessarily have to have, by definition, these days?
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It is our flaws that give us “character” afterall — any novice screenwriter knows that, and knows how to leverage it too, for all that it’s worth. “No one’s Perfect” … least of all, our free publicity-seeking presidential hopefuls.
The Media Coverage numbers don’t lie, they only gravitate to ‘the story’ of the day.
Helluva a way to pick the leader of the free world, eh? Flittering from one outrage to the next, like a moth chasing a scattering wildfire flame.