JTC 373 Blog Post #6: Publicity Through the Mainstream Media

During a presidential campaign, each candidate is responsible for creating good publicity for themselves. Let’s remind ourselves, what is publicity? Publicity is the act of creating positive events that shares news and information about an organization. As I’ve discussed in previous posts, much of Bernie Sanders’ publicity comes through social media and email campaigns. Until he became a serious presidential candidate, you didn’t see anything of him on mainstream media outlets. Even today, mainstream coverage of the Sanders campaign is very small compared to other campaigns. This brings me to my next point: what happens to a presidential campaign that gets extensive publicity for the media? Look no further than Donald Trump’s campaign.

This post is not an attack on Mr. Trump’s personality, nor his platform (or lack thereof…), but rather the mainstream media coverage of his campaign. Ever since he announced his campaign last summer with his famous “Illegal aliens coming from Mexico are rapists” line, the majority of the mainstream media coverage of the 2016 Presidential election has been devoted to his campaign, in turn creating nonstop publicity. Just look at this comparison. When an organization or campaign gets this type of publicity, it is called “indirect communication.” This type of indirect communication has fueled Mr. Trump’s campaign to the front of the GOP race. Why does Mr. Trump get all this coverage? Frankly, because he’s mastered the media. He knows the mainstream media will cover anything brash, controversial he says. People find Donald Trump entertaining, and will consume media for this purpose. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said about Bernie Sanders. It says a lot about our media and political race when entertainment is valued over ideas and rational thought.