Paid, earned, shared, and owned media are the four channel types in the PESO model, a framework Gini Dietrich coined in her 2014 book Spin Sucks: brands buy paid media, win earned media through press coverage, generate shared media through social engagement, and fully control owned media like a website or blog.
What is owned media?
Owned media is any content or channel a brand fully controls, including its website, blog, email list, and branded social accounts. White papers, e-books, and newsletters all count as owned media because the brand decides exactly what gets published and when, with no third party able to edit or remove it.
What is paid media?
Paid media is any channel where a brand pays directly for placement, including PPC advertising, sponsored social posts, and paid mentions in broadcast or print. A brand controls the message in paid media the same way it does in owned media, but it rents the audience instead of owning it outright.
What is earned media?
Earned media is unpaid press coverage a brand wins through an existing relationship with a journalist or outlet, such as a segment on a morning show or a mention in an industry publication. Earned media carries more third-party credibility than paid or owned media precisely because the brand did not pay for or write it, which is also why it is harder to control or guarantee.
What is shared media?
Shared media is content distributed through social platforms by someone other than the brand itself, including an influencer mention, a customer review, or a user sharing a brand's own post. Dietrich added shared media as a fourth category specifically because social media did not fit cleanly into the older paid/earned/owned framework that predates it; a piece of owned content becomes shared media the moment someone other than the brand redistributes it.
| Media type | Who controls it | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Owned | The brand, fully | Company website, email newsletter |
| Paid | The brand, by paying for it | Sponsored social post, PPC ad |
| Earned | The outlet or journalist | Unpaid press mention, media segment |
| Shared | The audience | Influencer mention, customer review |
How do the four media types work together?
The four media types work together in sequence more often than in isolation: a piece of owned content (a blog post) can earn a journalist's attention and become earned media (a press mention), which then gets amplified as shared media when readers post it to social platforms, sometimes reinforced with a paid media boost to extend its reach further. Deciding how much weight to give each type is one of the core decisions a communications plan has to make, and 5W's guide to measuring PR effectiveness covers how to track results across all four once that mix is set.
PESO Model FAQ
Who created the PESO model?
Gini Dietrich, founder of the Spin Sucks agency, introduced the PESO model in her 2014 book Spin Sucks, adding shared media to the older paid/earned/owned framework to account for the rise of social media.
Which media type should a small brand prioritize first?
Owned media is typically the right starting point because it requires no media relationships or ad budget, just a website or blog the brand fully controls, which then becomes the foundation that earned and shared media can point back to.
Can one piece of content be more than one media type at once?
Yes. A blog post is owned media when published, becomes earned media if a journalist cites it, and becomes shared media the moment a reader posts it to social platforms, which is the overlap the PESO model is specifically built to describe.
5WPR builds integrated PESO media strategies that move a single message across owned, earned, shared, and paid channels for maximum reach. Learn more at https://www.5wpr.com/practice/digital-pr.cfm.
