Ken Berwitz
And he doesn\’t even have to pay for it.
Donald Trump is currently way ahead of those other people he is running against.
I call them “those other people”, to be in keeping with mainstream media – which have decided that they will only cover Trump – not just when he makes an outrageous statement (which happens pretty much all the time) but even when he doesn\’t.
Just how much is the news media shaping the GOP primaryrace? In the past three days, DonaldTrump\’s name has been mentioned 25 times more than the rest of theRepublican field combined.
The data gurus at The New Analytics Company measure “scrub” television, radio, print, internet and social media for mentions of the2016 candidates to produce scores for each candidate that we bring you eachweek in The Edge.
But given this week\’s absolute media meltdown over Donald Trump\’s plan torefuse entry to the United States any Muslim from any country, there\’s reallyno comparison.
So here\’s a slightly different, ahem, angle on The Edge: On Monday, the daybefore he proposed the religious test for entry, there were 19,355 uniquementions of Trump across all media in the U.S. Way more than his rivals, butwithin a measurable range.
His average for the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday was 64,638 mentions, a 234percent increase in the size of his already huge media footprint. The combinedscore of every other candidate combined added up to the paltry average of 2,566mentions over the same time.
What Mr. Stirewalt is saying, at least to some extent, is that Trump, for better or worse, is getting vastly more press coverage than any other Republican candidate – and he has the numbers to prove it.
I wonder how many people can even name 3 or 4 of the 14 opponents running against Trump – or any of their positions on key issues? If media do not report who Trump\’s competition is, and where they stand, how are they supposed to compete against Trump for votes?
Look at Ben Carson as an example. Just weeks ago, he was challenging – even ahead of – Trump in several polls. Now you don\’t see his name even a fraction as much as you did.
Carly Fiorina is another good example. Just a couple of months ago media were talking about how she was rushing up in the polls. When was the last time you saw an article – any article about her – i.e. where she is campaigning or what she is saying?
Same with Jeb Bush, a two-time governor whose father and brother were Presidents.
Even people moving up in the polls – like Marco Rubio and Chris Christie – have barely been mentioned over the past few weeks.
Simply stated, if media are playing Donald Trump\’s game and covering him to the virtual exclusion of everyone else, voters are not thinking about everyone else, they\’re thinking only of Donald Trump. That zooms up Trump\’s poll and depresses the others.
Will the next debate bring media coverage back to something approaching normalcy?
Let\’s hope so.
