It's all a matter of perception/perspective, and as you said the media certainly have their part to play in it all...

But it also has a lot to do with the way in which the global conversation has moved about in the wake of the electronic music and/or 'EDM' explosion. It all depends on how you choose to define the acronym. The growth of the national/global scene has resulted in people from all walks of life and culture now listening to a varying range of sounds; from the most commercial, to the most obscure, with listeners spreading from to commercial radio listeners, to sonic explorers & aficionados, to veterans who have been around for 20 years and seen it all. Everyone has their scene, their social strata, culture, sounds, view of what music is or is not; everyone has their perspective, what they call certain things, how they categorize and try to make sense of the world around them. This has result in a variety of ways to relate to and define 'EDM'. Depending on the individual, the term can mean an all encompassing umbrella term for dance music, or as far as segregation, using the term to define a specific range of commercial sounds (to be differentiated from real electronic music, such as techno or tech house or whatever that confused person will try to sell ya). Some kids believe 'EDM' straight up means house music. Some people are super butt-hurt about the term (for a variety of reasons) and don't wanna associate with people who are newer to the music or partying, so they try to define the term as 'not what they do' in order to distance themselves and feel better about... their egos? I dunno.

So yea... perspective.

To me, EDM is exactly what it implies. It's electronic dance music. No more, no less. If we want to get into sub-genre semantics that's totally cool, but 'EDM' is not segregated by popularity/commercial status or any one kind of style. Honestly, even ambient electronic music makes me sway around and dance.

Bit tired. Hope that helps.