Ron Paul: Are the media really still ignoring him?
Is Ron Paul still being ignored by the mainstream media? Are traditional news outlets continuing to treat him like 鈥渢he 13th floor in a hotel,鈥� to use comedian Jon Stewart鈥檚 phrase? Is he the GOP candidate non grata, the Libertarian-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, the hole in the doughnut that is the Republican presidential field?
You鈥檇 think so if you skimmed a Pew poll released this week. According to Pew鈥檚 鈥溾�� survey, Representative Paul gets the least news coverage of any GOP White House hopeful. Since May, he鈥檚 been the subject of just 2 percent of campaign stories, says Pew 鈥� lagging just behind the powerhouse that is the Rick Santorum campaign.
If there鈥檚 any good news for Paul in these results, it鈥檚 that in recent months there is one other candidate who鈥檚 started to do even worse, in terms of getting attention from the "lamestreamers."
鈥淔rom July on, Newt Gingrich received less coverage than Paul did,鈥� the Pew report says.
But here鈥檚 our take: We think the Paul-is-being-ignored conclusion is off the mark.
First, we have some questions about Pew鈥檚 methodology. Newspapers aren鈥檛 dead, at least not yet, but the Pew news-coverage survey looks at only a couple of biggies and a local one or two. We鈥檇 guess that Paul鈥檚 coverage in regional papers is greater than shown in this poll. Perhaps our real complaint is this: We鈥檙e not on Pew鈥檚 . And we鈥檝e given Paul fairly constant coverage since Mr. Stewart complained about the lack thereof in August.
Second, Paul is actually winning in another measure of news coverage, as Pew itself notes.
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Of all GOP candidates, Paul gets the most positive coverage on blogs. Some 48 percent of conversation about him on the Internet tubes is positive, according to Pew鈥檚 analysis. Only 15 percent is negative, with 38 percent neutral. No other White House wannabe comes close in terms of good blog tone.
It鈥檚 true that Paul is only the fifth-most-discussed candidate on the Internet. But that鈥檚 where the core of his support 鈥� and his coverage 鈥� lies.
鈥淚n the ideology-driven blogosphere, a major wellspring of Paul鈥檚 support is the idea that he is the candidate least likely to shift his thinking to fit political realities,鈥� .
You can see how dynamic Paul鈥檚 Web presence is by going to and comparing how many people are searching the phrase 鈥淩on Paul鈥� compared with 鈥�Mitt Romney鈥� or 鈥�Rick Perry鈥� or any other GOP candidate.
Over the past 30 days, for instance, Paul has generated almost three times as many searches in the United States as has . generated more Web interest through early October, but that鈥檚 cratered and now stands below Paul鈥檚 average.
? No contest. Three times as much Web traffic goes to Paul, the Texas libertarian lawmaker, as to the Minnesota tea party favorite.
OK, does better than Paul. Over the past month, he鈥檚 about 30 percent ahead, by Google Trends measures. Maybe that will change now that Mr. Cain鈥檚 鈥�9-9-9鈥� tax plan is under attack from his rivals.
So if news is migrating to the Web, away from dead trees and even airwaves, than Paul actually has a media advantage. If not now, at least by 2016. Of course, next time around, the Paul running for president may have a different first name: 鈥淩and.鈥�
