Donald Tump Rides The Free Media Wave

The only other candidate in history who has used free media as effectively as Donald Trump was Ross Perot, the Texas business entrepreneur who ran as a third-party candidate for president in 1992, according toKathleen Hall Jamieson, a professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, who has written several books on political communication.

Perot became a popular network news booking, once spending two hours sparring with Katie Couric on NBC's "Today," and taking calls from viewers live on the air.

Perot held audiences, and it was the reason he continued to get free media access," Jamieson said. "He was interesting. He was different. Part of what is refreshing about Perot is what's refreshing about Trump. He says things other people do not say."

The LA Times reports TV producer Jeff Gaspin, who as an NBC executive worked with Trump on "The Apprentice," compared the candidate's ridiculing of his Republican competitors to former "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell's pronouncements on terrible singing performances. Trump described Jeb Bush as dull and "low-energy," questioned the intelligence of Rick Perry and called Sen. Lindsey Graham "a stiff."

"Why was 'American Idol' so successful? Because Simon said 'that's the worst thing I've ever heard' and made 16-year-olds cry," Gaspin said. "You weren't allowed to do that. When were you allowed in a political campaign to make fun of your opponents? Trump has got that unfiltered honesty. He's the Simon Cowell of politics."

How long can Trump ride this free media wave?

TV news producers say it's like any other hit TV show. Once the ratings for Trump's appearances start to subside, programs will turn to him less. His campaign will have to decide at that point whether to pursue a TV ad strategy in the early primary states where his well-funded opponents are likely to run negative commercials against him.

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