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Gary Johnson: earned media report in campaign's first week

OK, I will admit that Gary Johnson
and Jim Gray need a better tandem
photo without the crossed arms.
UPDATED:  Erin Burnett interviews Gary on CNN.

Gary Johnson said, at the very beginning, that the only way to get bang for his very few bucks in the opening stages of his Libertarian presidential bid, would be to concentrate on getting as much media coverage of his candidacy as possible.

It's been about a week since his nomination, so--discounting all the nomination stories themselves--let's see how the campaign has done.  In this run-down I am intentionally ignoring such libertarian-leaning media as Reason, for the simple idea that they aren't where Gary has to go to find new voters.

So far, then, we've had Gary . .  .

. . . in an extended interview on C-Span.

. . . in a shorter video interview on The Daily Beast.

. . .  covered by HuffPo in an article of marijuana legalization and the upcoming election.

. . . smeared by Democratic Underground.

. . . mentioned in terms of his views on marriage equality by Talking Points Memo, The Alberquerque Journal, and HuffPo.

. . . interviewed by Neil Cavuto on Fox Business.

. . .  mentioned by NPR, Slate, The Daily Beast (again), the Wall Street Journal editorial page, and Democratic Underground (again).

. . . covered on Buzzfeed.

And over the past two days, stories have been multiplying faster than I can chronicle them here:


The Santa Ana (CA) Daily Pilot discusses an upcoming rally by running mate Jim Gray.

Op Ed News profiles Judge Gray.

The Orange County Register does the same.

And Fox News Opinion suggests that Johnson could take the presidential campaign by surprise.

This is a good start, but it is just that--a start.  So far, with the exception of Fox News the Johnson campaign coverage for the week remains solidly in what I would call the "second-tier" national sources (C-Span, The Daily Beast, HuffPo) and the regional/local media where you would expect (Johnson gets a lot of coverage in New Mexico; Gray gets his coverage in California).

But this is a necessary precursor to breaking out into the larger national media, which may be happening with the CNN interview by Erin Burnett.

If you are a Gary Johnson supporter it is important to always comment positive on any coverage (even if the story is negative) and thank the media outlet for carrying it.  They are driven by what they believe their viewers/readers want to see, so if you respond, they will do more.

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