Early use of the term “Earned Media”

A 20 year old term that continues to evolve with technology

According to WordSpy.com, a rather useful resource that I recently discovered, the earliest mention of the term “earned media” is in a Newsweek article from 1988 called, ‘The Search for the Perfect Sound-Bite’, by Jonathan Alter and Howard Fineman. They refer to “earned media” as having replaced “free media” as a more desirable euphemism for gaining news coverage.

Obviously, over the past 20 years, the definition has been extended beyond free inclusion in a news story to now cover any instance of consumers voluntarily sharing a brand’s message themselves, whether that be electronically or by direct word-of-mouth.

Even up until 2001, according to WordSpy, the term “earned media” was being utilized as meaning “free television and radio exposure – as opposed to paid media or costly advertisements”, as was quoted in a Los Angeles Times article.

In the world of campaigns, there is nothing better than earned media — free television and radio exposure — as opposed to paid media or costly advertisements. —Beth Shuster, “Being an Incumbent Has Many Benefits,” The Los Angeles Times, April 7, 2001

Heard of an earlier mention of the term “earned media”? Post it below and I’ll add it to this article.