While pundits spend a tossing, turning evening attempting to guess out which High-Profile Sporting Event ads will result in peevish Donald Trump tweets tomorrow, one thing is already clear: Those television programs that Trump does like are raking in the dough, as companies seeking to influence Trump’s policy decisions learn that the best way to gain the White House’s ear is to advertise on the television shows he likes to watch.
The ad rates for “Morning Joe” have more than doubled post-election, according to one veteran media buyer. Trump, who reportedly watches the show most mornings, has a close relationship with “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough, and they talk regularly. [...]
“The president’s media habits are so predictable, advertisers migrate to those areas,” said one media buyer.
One prominent D.C. consultant said some of his clients, including a big bank and major pharmaceutical company, were negotiating this week to buy ads on “O’Reilly” and “Morning Joe” because they knew they had a good chance of reaching the president. Trump has also been known to respond directly to what he’s watching on television and tweet statistics and topics he sees on-air. Those tweets often drive news coverage during the day.
Don’t be surprised if Russia and other countries start buying up significant blocks of Morning Joe or The O’Reilly Factor ad time. Donald Trump may not have the stamina to focus on major policy decisions himself, but he always remembers what he’s seen on TV.
QUOTATION OF THE DAY
“The institution of a leisure class hinders cultural development immediately (1) by the inertia proper of the class itself, (2) through its prescriptive example of conspicuous waste and of conservatism, and (3) indirectly through that system of unequal distribution of wealth and sustenance on which the institution itself rests.”
—Thorstein Veblen, The Theory of the Leisure Class, 1899
TWEET OF THE DAY
BLAST FROM THE PAST
At Daily Kos on this date in 2012—Komen's hypocrisy: Let us count the ways:
When an organization adopts a purportedly blanket policy as cover for undertaking a biased action, the natural laws of the universe (at least of the PR universe) mandate that said policy wrap tightly back on an organization like a pink straitjacket woven with threads of hypocrisy and gall.
That the Susan G. Komen Foundation thought it could get away with stripping funding for Planned Parenthood is not surprising. One of the nation's biggest charities is likely to have some hubris in that regard. That they hired Ari Fleisher to manage the policy rollout and got, well, Ari Fleisher'd is not terribly remarkable either. That the media bought the Komen half-hearted, quasi-sorta reversal as some complete 180 that guaranteed Planned Parenthood funding was also to be expected.
What I didn't expect was that this scandal would still, days later, be a never-ending black hole filled with excuses, contradictions and confusion. It's a marathon of a scandal, and Komen doesn't look to be in any shape to finish strong. […]
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