http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/articles/2016-04-13/how-donald-trump-trumped-the-tv-networks?int=a01109How Trump Trumped the TV Networks
Even when the networks try to cover the candidates equally, the GOP front-runner finds a way to win the spotlight.
Figuring out Donald J. Trump's mastery of free television is the great parlor game of 2016. The question is: Who is playing whom?
The Republican front-runner realized long ago that he could snare media attention by offering comments "a little more outrageous," as he said in his 1987 bestseller, "The Art of the Deal." On the campaign trail, he offers an unbeatable combination: a celebrity name and the ability to rile up viewers with incendiary sound bites.
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How Donald Trump's Media Dominance Is Changing the 2016 Campaign
A data analysis shows that Trump hasn't needed news to dominate the airwaves. In fact, his mentions on major networks actually compete with other candidates when coverage veers to serious election-related events, like primaries or heated Republican debates.
Trump has created his own news cycles. With his flair for what he has called "truthful hyperbole," Trump captured 54 percent of the television media mentions of GOP candidates between the time he formally announced his candidacy and now.
