Ohio Communication Association

P.T. Barnum was a master at generating a buzz. Some of his most famous stunts included promoting a 161-year-old woman marketed as George Washington’s nurse and the FeeJee Mermaid. Barnum is perhaps most famous in the public relations world for his use of press agentry. Press agentry emerged in the turn of the 20^th century in an era when media professionals were not the most ethical. Following in the yellow journalism tradition of promoting sensationalism over facts, press agentry utilized media stunts, propaganda, and at times, outright lies to benefit the organization or individual with little regard for the public good.

While many PR professionals today have abandoned this form of promotion, it appears that press agentry is alive and well in the 2016 political campaign. Donald Trump, a candidate vying for the republican nomination for president, seems to be running his campaign in full press agentry style. He has used the media masterfully, even if what he states on television and social media does not represent reality. Recently, The New York Times reported that 76% of Trump’s statements made since 2007 have been “mostly false or worse.” In fact, Trump leads both republican and democratic politicians in the “pants on fire” category, a category reserved for the most egregious lies. Throughout his campaign, Trump has made controversial statements about Mexicans, women, veterans, the disabled, and most recently, Muslims. In fact, one can barely turn on the radio or television, or surf on social media today without seeing his name. Even though much of the media’s coverage has been negative as of late, Trump still remains at the top of the political polls.

Trump is currently dominating over republican candidates Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, and Jeb Bush. You may be wondering how a reality television star and business man with no political experience in office is up over double points in the polls to senators and former governors with decades of experience in office. One answer could be that press agentry is wildly effective in gaining media attention, and Trump is exceedingly good at marketing himself.

According to The Washington Post, Trump currently has more than 650,000 followers on Instagram and 5 million Twitter followers, and he has posted on Twitter over 6,000 times since he announced his presidential campaign in June 2015. The Washington Post also analyzed these Tweets, and found that 11% were insults and attacks, whereas the other 89% included tweets where Trump bragged about himself or tweeted other forms of self-promotion. Trump has also appeared numerous television programs, including Saturday Night Live, Meet the Press, and CNN, and has scheduled appearances on the popular TV shows The Voice and Duck Dynasty. The goal of any press agentry campaign is to stay in the public’s mind by leveraging media coverage, and Trump has certainly done this.

While you can’t necessarily fault Donald Trump for running an excellent press agentry media campaign from a business standpoint, you can call him out on his questionable ethics as a candidate for the presidency. According to research cited by the American Psychological Association, the traits of a great president include open-mindedness and attentiveness to emotions. Thus far, Trump has not demonstrated his ability on either front. His false claims about Muslims cheering after 9/11 and the percentage of white people murdered by blacks are divisive and harmful. Trump’s own party has had enough of his campaign, vowing to launch a counter-campaign to stop further damage to the GOP. Regardless of what your political persuasion is, Trump has yet to demonstrate that he can run anything beyond an effective media campaign.

Perhaps press agentry should be saved for marketing circus side-shows and celebrities, and leave the political arena to more ethical forms of public relations. However, only time will tell as to the ultimate success of this strategy. Trump’s popularity has never been stronger, and his supporters are more vocal than ever. I suppose we’ll have to wait until November 2016 to see the final outcome. Until then, I’ll be watching out for more “mermaid-esque” media stunts from Mr. Trump and tipping my hat to P.T. Barnum for this year’s political circus.

Amber L. Ferris, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Communication

The University of Akron Wayne College