Earned media is one of those terms everyone in communications uses, but very few people stop to define. I’ve met plenty of founders and internal marketing leads who are suddenly “doing PR” with no training, no roadmap, and a vague directive to get press. What they’re usually handed is a surface-level definition and a lot of unrealistic expectations.
Somewhere along the way, earned media became shorthand for visibility. More mentions. Bigger outlets. Louder headlines. That framing misses the point entirely. But, earned media isn’t about attention. It’s about trust.
What Earned Media Actually Is
Earned media is when someone outside your company decides your story is worth telling. You didn’t pay for it, you didn’t publish it yourself, and you don’t get to control how it’s framed. A reporter, editor, or producer makes a judgment call that your perspective has value for their audience. That decision is the whole thing.
It’s also why earned media carries weight in a way advertising never will. People know when they’re being sold to. They also know when a third party is doing the talking. Public relations is often described as relationship-building, but earned media is where those relationships become visible. It’s the external proof that your positioning makes sense outside your own walls.
Why Earned Media Isn’t the Same as Ads or Content
Advertising is transactional: you pay, you place, you move on. Owned content is controlled and necessary, but it largely reaches people who already care enough to pay attention.
Earned media operates in a completely different context. It shows up in places people already trust and consume for information, not promotion. The difference becomes especially clear with television. We’ve had clients appear on national morning shows or regional broadcasts through carefully planned media placements where the immediate reaction wasn’t an influx of clicks or sales, but something more lasting. Partners, investors, and customers referenced the appearance weeks later. Conversations changed and the client was no longer explaining who they were; the outlet had already done that for them.
In other cases, a short TV segment did more to establish credibility than months of paid spend. A founder seen discussing their industry on-air is perceived differently than one appearing in an ad. The message may be similar, but the context signals authority rather than promotion.
That’s the power of earned media. When your story appears on television, in print, or through a trusted third party, it doesn’t feel like marketing. It feels like confirmation. And that shift (subtle but meaningful) is what makes earned media fundamentally different from ads or owned content.
What Earned Media Actually Does for a Brand
Earned media works quietly at first because it shapes how a company is understood before it ever influences behavior. A thoughtful feature can legitimize a founder who’s been operating under the radar. Or, a well-placed quote can establish authority long before a brand is widely known, when earned media is approached as thought leadership, not just exposure
This is also why earned media frustrates people who expect instant results. Its value isn’t always obvious in a dashboard (although often it is!). It shows up in conversations, in investor meetings, in how future reporters respond to outreach, and that compounds.
How Coverage Really Happens
Earned media starts with knowing who you are and being able to say it without defaulting to buzzwords. Journalists don’t need another company claiming to be innovative or disruptive. They’re looking for clarity, a point of view, and a reason this story matters now, not six months ago and not five years from now.
There’s no formula that guarantees coverage, and anyone promising that is selling something. What good PR actually provides is judgment: when to speak, when to wait, and how to frame a story in a way that respects how newsrooms work. That kind of judgment is the foundation of effective media relations strategies, not volume or velocity.
Why Earned Media Still Matters Now
People are tired of being marketed to; they skip ads and scroll past sponsored posts. Earned media cuts through because it’s in a place people trust, so that article or TV spot doesn’t have to beg for attention.
That matters even more now, as search and AI systems rely on third-party signals to decide what’s credible. Earned media goes beyond visibility and is about being part of the authentic record.
Of course, this takes time and requires clarity, restraint, and patience. But when it works, it does something advertising can’t: it makes a brand believable. And in a crowded market, that’s still the hardest thing to earn.