Headline Porn: Mark Cuban Exposes The Ugly Truth About The 2016 Election
By Tyler Durden
Authored by Mark Cuban, originally posted at BlogMaverick.com,
I learned it from watching Dennis Rodman and Paris Hilton. Tell the media what they need and want to hear. Give them a place and time to talk to you about it. Watch the headlines roll in.
Dennis would tell them where he would be partying, with who and something wild he would do. Paris would tell them what she would be wearing and what celebs she would be partying with. Both knew exactly how to leverage the media of the time to their advantage.
It wasn’t long after I got into the NBA I realized that every team had multiple media outlets that had to write, talk or broadcast something every day. They craved content. It was so easy to get them to write almost anything.
Once I started getting fined by the NBA, the national door flew wide open. At the time, sports media, not only believed they were journalists, they actually tried to be. They wrote stories. They tried to add some depth of coverage to even the simplest or stupidest of topics, say working at a Dairy Queen because I had gotten fined hundreds of thousands of dollars for saying the head of NBA officiating (who still works for the NBA btw), could not manage a DQ. Media back then was incredulous that I would say the things I did.
It made for a lot of fun battles with them. If they challenged me based on some nebulous opinion they held, I would challenge them right back. The give and take was fun for me. Entertaining for some and amazing at brand building for me as well.
Over time media and the media changed. I started this blog in 2004 particularly to respond to the media. Here is my first blog challenging Kevin Blackistone, here is me ripping the NYTimes 10 years ago this week . The good old days.
Around 2010 social media really started to take off and have an impact on reporting. In particular Twitter changed the sports media game. Scoops were no longer delivered in the next newscast or web update. Trolling for clicks was no longer enough. You had to break stories on twitter.
The problem for political media is that they have not changed with the times. They are getting used and abused by Donald Trump in a way only those who truly understand Headline Porn, like the sports media, truly appreciate.
Donald can talk for hours and say nothing of true substance. But every few sentences he is going to spout out Headline Porn that is going to fit in 140 characters or so and unquestionably have to be discussed by “The Political Shows”. I’m not sure he realizes he is doing it. Im not sure who he reflects the most, Rodman or Hilton, but he is following in their footsteps. There are certain things that when a celebrity says them, the …read more
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