Media and Trump

It seems like for the past few days, all I get to see on the news, on my Facebook and Twitter feeds is about Trump and Star Wars. The more the media sheds attention on Trump, the more ridiculous his campaign speeches become and the more support he gets.

It seems like Donald’s trump campaign is just out to get media attention and no matter what he says, he gets to pick up more supporters. So why does the media give him so much attention?

From a PR point of view, Trump is newsworthy. He is a presidential candidate of one of the bigger party in the United States. He is touching on a lot of controversial topics like immigration and religion. He is also taking on unpopular views, which many considers racist. And now, he is the front runner of the GOP.

As you may know, different media reports do report news with different tone and opinions, but many independent media try to put out facts and the audiences connect the dots. Listening to media on both conservative radio and liberal radio, I realize that many of the programs on the radios are condemning Donald Trump, and some even resort to call him a liar and a racist, yet his reach and support seems to increase.

I realize that even now, as I’m writing this article, I’m doing research and reading more about Donald Trump. And I guess everyone has their own view and opinions, and when facts are presented to different people, they piece this information together and come up with their own conclusion.

So should the media be to provide the truth and help the audience understand the truth, however, when the media tries to explain too much and share one side of the story, it may feel as though it is not a balanced view. But for many of the viewpoints, is there even a balanced view?

With Trump’s aggressive media use and shocking statements, he does get a lot of coverage, and yet, how do you put a balanced opinion on Trump’s call to ban Muslims from travelling to the US. If the media ignores him, he can still reach many others on social media, and when media covers him, does it put the US in a bad light for having so many racist supporters?

Do we not agree on racism? Do we not know what racism is?

It is very clear that our society is fragmented, and our values and ethics differ a lot. On one hand, the statistics show that even with Trump’s stance on Mexicans and Muslims, 36% support him. But this 36% is 36% of the Republican Electoral Support not even 36% Republicans which is the minority of people in the US.

I feel that the media is covering Trump because in today’s digital media world, it is hard to get attention. Will we see Trump as Republican Presidential Candidate? It is hard to tell. Even in the country with free speech, many media don’t call a spade a spade. When Trump lies and does not check facts, it is the responsibility for the media to inform and call him out, and not to mislead.

Even when the role of media is not to protect and censor out all the racist comments, the role of media is to inform – to uncover the truth as best as it can and to put it together in a way that the audience can understand the truth, without opinions, without name calling.

-- Robin Low

Tips to pitch a story

As a small business or an entrepreneur, it is important to learn how to pitch an interesting story or ideas to the media (influential bloggers or mainstream media)

Here are some tips to make you pitch like a pro. Always consider your audience.


Newsworthiness (CITPPM)
(List is from Carol Howard, On Deadline — a good book about media relations.)

Come up with newsworthy ideas to pitch, based on CITPPM —

C - Consequence - Is the story of any consequence to your readers?


I - Interest -  Is the story interesting to your readers?

T - Timeliness - Did the event just happen or is it going to happen?

P - Proximity - Is the story a local or national story?

P - Prominence - Prominence of the coverage?

M - Magnitude - Does the story have magnitude?



After getting a good newsworthy story, think about your pitch.

What constitutes a good pitch email? 

Visual. Many people read the news online because there is a catchy picture. If you have a nice shot of your product, (screenshot for software), include a few good ones for the editor to pick (make sure they are not too big) and the pics you send catches their attention too.

Concise. Make sure you are concise enough to sell your company in one or two sentences in the email copy and title. It's like pitching to an investor, really.

Detailed. Include as many information about the company and the founders in your attachments. It makes our lives 10 times easier.





Good luck with your pitches!

-- Robin Low