Media Matters: American News Organizations and Political Issues

[ccangelopearl1362]

Politico: CNN fades in prime-time picture
American Thinker: Robert Bowie Johnson, Jr.: Narcissus And Echo: Obama and the Mainstream Media

Hello. A slight shift I sense at this moment, if from politics directly. It may be appropriate that I would do this now, after having seen quite a few individuals mention it in past debate threads and contemplated the news stories and opinion articles I have cited in forming my past arguments. Allow me to begin by explaining that Fox News Channel has been competing with the Cable News Network, the National Broadcasting Company, and other prominent news organizations for substantial viewers among the American people. However, for some reason, the last few organizations have undergone some… serious shifts in the past several years or even decades, so that the people of the United States evidently consider Fox News a better organization of the ones I mentioned. At the same time, various blogs have launched investigative reports of their own in order to figure out what on Earth is really happening with any issue they wish, perhaps signaling a new change in media consumption patterns either in the United States, around the world, or both. Consider this to be a debate about not necessarily a specific political issue as we might normally understand, but rather the influence of the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Anderson Cooper, and Chris Matthews regarding such issues. I will look for more information to this end, and anyone who wishes to comment may feel free to do so, from American news organizations to news organizations worldwide, such as the British Broadcasting Corporation, focused as they are on the influence of the media in political discourse.

 

[Porygandrew]

News should be about the news and not about trying to get the most viewers - like how politics should be about the issues and not about keeping the most votes / staying a senator/representative.

 

[Carlisle]

CNN was great during the election cycle, but they're turning into garbage quickly with their ridiculous news stories. They SERIOUSLY had a segment on the air about a damn Cheney/Rush Limbaugh ticket for 2012? Seriously, wtf? It doesn't take an idiot to realize that would NEVER happen, and if it did, it would crash the Republican party, etc. And two, I don't think anyone is stupid enough to vote for either of them.


The media just sucks in general.

 

[BigLutz]

News has always been about money and ratings. It's why you have all the "Tonight find out what could kill you!" during February and November Sweeps. With out ratings they cannot show which station is doing good and which is doing bad, and thus they won't get any advertising dollars. With out advertisement they can't pay for the studios, etc etc.

That being said its even worse for Cable News than Network News, because Cable News you have larger studios, larger costs, and higher paid one hour hosts.

While I cannot imagine Cable News with out CNN, it and MSNBC are being dominating day in and day out by Fox News. To the point that eventually I could see one or both stations go under if something doesn't change drastically.

By the way via Drudge, here were last Thursday's Ratings which seem to be about usual for the three stations.

FOXNEWS OREILLY 3,526,000
FOXNEWS HANNITY 2,474,000
FOXNEWS BECK 2,009,000
FOXNEWS BAIER 1,871,000
FOXNEWS GRETA 1,834,000
FOXNEWS SHEP 1,787,000
MSNBC OLBERMANN 1,298,000
MSNBC MADDOW 1,029,000
CNNHN GRACE 915,000
CNN COOPER 852,000

 

[Carlisle]

News has always been about money and ratings. It's why you have all the "Tonight find out what could kill you!" during February and November Sweeps. With out ratings they cannot show which station is doing good and which is doing bad, and thus they won't get any advertising dollars. With out advertisement they can't pay for the studios, etc etc.

That being said its even worse for Cable News than Network News, because Cable News you have larger studios, larger costs, and higher paid one hour hosts.

While I cannot imagine Cable News with out CNN, it and MSNBC are being dominating day in and day out by Fox News. To the point that eventually I could see one or both stations go under if something doesn't change drastically.

By the way via Drudge, here were last Thursday's Ratings which seem to be about usual for the three stations.

FOXNEWS OREILLY 3,526,000
FOXNEWS HANNITY 2,474,000
FOXNEWS BECK 2,009,000
FOXNEWS BAIER 1,871,000
FOXNEWS GRETA 1,834,000
FOXNEWS SHEP 1,787,000
MSNBC OLBERMANN 1,298,000
MSNBC MADDOW 1,029,000
CNNHN GRACE 915,000
CNN COOPER 852,000

Wow, CNN is doing that badly? What a shame. Any ideas on why Fox is doing so well?

...and Nancy Grace got that few of views? Wow. Then again, I don't think she should be included in that. She doesn't talk about politics. In fact, all she does talk about is the Casey Anthony case, and people are starting to turn away after almost an entire year of it being about that dreadful woman day in and day out. I do have to say I am surprised that Anderson Cooper is doing so poorly.

 

[BigLutz]

Wow, CNN is doing that badly? What a shame. Any ideas on why Fox is doing so well?

Better talent, right now Fox News just has a trifecta of very powerful hosts of O'Reilly, Hannity, and Beck. 2 of 3 I believe also have very successful talk radio shows, which I would guess would boost the ratings.

...and Nancy Grace got that few of views? Wow. Then again, I don't think she should be included in that. She doesn't talk about politics. In fact, all she does talk about is the Casey Anthony case, and people are starting to turn away after almost an entire year of it being about that dreadful woman day in and day out.

Yeah she is the same thing as Greta's show on Fox.

 

[ccangelopearl1362]

Funny that Carlisle should ask about Fox News. My idea was that news organizations would do well among the American people by informing them of the truth behind any developing news story. Overall, I’d say that Fox News Channel has done the best job up to this point, and in fact, I will admit to being surprised that MSNBC hasn’t collapsed yet, especially after what Chris Matthews opined about Barack Obama during last year’s presidential election.:

NewsBusters: Brad Wilmouth: Matthews: Obama Speech Caused ‘Thrill Going Up My Leg’

“I felt this thrill going up my leg”, proclaimed Matthews, “I mean, I don’t have that too often.” Matthews may only be the most (in)famous example of a sharp tilt in the media’s direction at the very thought that Barack Hussein Obama could succeed George Walker Bush as President of America. Sure enough, Obama is the new President of the United States… and Press Secretary Robert Gibbs is accusing British news organizations of improperly targeting the Obama administration.:

NewsBusters: Tom Blumer: WH Press Secretary Goes After British Press; Can Clintonian Conspiracy Theories Be Far Behind?

*If there’s something strange in the U.S. press, who you gonna call? NewsBusters!!!! If the news is off, leaving one big mess, who you gonna call? NewsBusters!!!!…* (laughing with delight for all of about five seconds, then clearing throat) In all seriousness, though, I find mystifying the idea that American right-wing think tanks are exerting considerable influence on, say, Fox News Channel. I would opine that these think tanks give considerable depth to positions held by many in the United States, so that we can know exactly what we believe about any political issue we wish. Certain individuals associated with these think tanks have appeared on the shows listed by BigLutz, including my personal favorite, Special Report w/ Bret Baier, and I have noted their comments in the past several years. One commentator in particular has been most influential in beginning to influence my thinking about… the truth behind Iran’s nuclear ambitions.:

Washington Post: Charles Krauthammer: In Iran, Arming for Armageddon

Evidently, the editorial board for The Washington Post thought it a good idea to include Charles Krauthammer’s warning that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seeks to bring forth the Hidden Imam… perhaps an ironic situation in the wake of what it and other news organizations sympathetic to the Democratic Party did during the election. I trust that NewsBusters will prove to be invaluable in revealing these actions on their part.