A CNN Alternative View
A lot has been made of the CNN debacle and we have certainly covered that here. However, there is one angle that hasn’t been addressed when it comes to the development of news and commentary industry. If everyone is anything like me, they can remember a time when there was no cable television. There were the major networks and the nightly news was a fixture during everyone’s evening. CNN didn’t even launch until I was seven years old in 1980. For most Americans that was about the time when most families started switching over to something more than basic cable.
The three major networks got to broadcast their programs for free over the airwaves. Families were able to pick up these programs for free as well. Implied in this arrangement was an agreement with the various governmental agencies that regulate the airwaves. In exchange for the freedom to broadcast there was an expectation of some minimal modicum of decency. That governed the news and the entertainment programs as well. Those networks would have to consider the value of these programs before deciding whether to broadcast them on the public airwaves.
Cable stations don’t have that same agreement. They have to jockey for position with the cable and satellite providers instead. Those are their direct customers. They grade everything based on the number of eyeballs they get. So, the idea of whether anything is newsworthy gets skewed by the eyeball test. Moreover, whether something adds to the public discourse and the general improvement of political commentary also takes a back seat.
Of course, one could debate whether cable and satellite television has been good or bad overall for the advancement of culture. With every negative has come some tremendous positives. We’ve watched more sitcoms and other dramas from cable and streaming services than from the basic networks over the years. They are able to take more chances and produce more challenging programming than the majors can. They can also give lesser actors a chance to shine. One could argue that these avenues have launched careers that would never have gotten off the ground otherwise.
Unfortunately, those that launched the 24 hour “news” platform probably miscalculated how these would develop over time. In the beginning we might have thought that they could go further in-depth and really educate the public on the source of numerous issues on the ballot and in society. We could have gotten background information on issues that would increase our collective understanding. We could have done a lot of things. Instead we get an amplification effect where our collective fears, slights, and grievances are magnified beyond any reasonable measure.
In this ecosystem it makes perfect sense that a CNN would give Donald Trump a platform. They might even convince themselves that they are doing right because he is a newsmaker and it would be wrong to editorialize by denying him that platform. The problem is the whole nonsense around bias and the mainstream media. Bias is inherent in the process. It is how we decide this story goes first and that story goes second. It is how we decide this story gets that oversized headline. It is how we decide these other stories are added to Friday story dump. At the end of the day it all goes back to who the customer is. On a national network the customer is the public. Our goal is to inform the public and do right by them. On cable and satellite the customer is the cable company and satellite company. They want eyeballs, advertising dollars, and attention. If we get there with quality programming then so much the better. If the programming sucks but brings eyeballs anyway then so be it.
Good article….the real problem with 24 hour news channels is that there isn’t 24 hours worth of news so they have fill in with speculation.
1Thank you, that was my take on the CNN hosting of Trump. Someone paid, probably all those donors that don’t realize their one time donation was a monthly expense, for that to happen. I’m sure not without a lot of pomp and puffery from the orange one about how he is a draw, or as he puts it a “celebrity”. I didn’t watch because I wasn’t willing to give them the eyes, however it looks like he did more damage and confirmed his incompetency to be President or so many have put it even dog catcher.
2Just cut the bloody cord y’all. Cut off their income and let them know why.
I’m somewhat older and have never ever subscribed to cable or satellite, I simply could never justify the expense for something that I certainly don’t have much time for anyway, and have no interest in 99.9% of it anyway.
The only times that I ever watched c&s was when I was on the road and living in company lodging, apartments or motel/hotels, and not paying for it (if I could have gotten my per diem credited and pocketed the dinero I would have..).
Cut the effing cord! Make them pay for destroying our society with the goddamned disinformation and propaganda.
3Samdridge,
I did that a long time ago and have never looked back. I also did not watch the spectacle.,
4Thanks Nick good info but why are you defending CNN?
If it smells like right wing entitlement propaganda, and quacks like right wing entitlement propaganda, it’s probably right wing entitlement propaganda!
Besides I seriously doubt CNN needs the eyeball click or the money. Check out the responding tweets to Cooper.
‘Anderson Cooper Sells Out To Defend Execrable Trump Town Hall’
https://crooksandliars.com/2023/05/anderson-cooper-prostrates-himself-defend
“how do you explain having an election denier–Byron Donalds– on the @CNN panel after the town hall to continue defending Trump’s lies?”
” the new majority shareholder of the company, John Malone, being a conservative billionaire and a Fox News fanboy.”
“Chris Licht is trying to make CNN the new Fox? Was it an accident that hapless Tucker Carlson mentee Kaitlin Collins was selected to host the event?”
5Airing a Trump campaign rally thinly disguised as a “Town Hall” was the real problem. Yes, clicks for cash rules, but if a network wants to give Trump free campaign ads, they should either charge Trump the going rate, or declare it as an in-kind donation.
6The network news departments are no different from the cable news. Corporate greed trumps everything, and getting viewers is more important than anything, because ad revenue is the only thing that motivates any of them.
7Agreed, Nick. And if nothing else, this exposed Trump again as the lowlife, lying trash that we know he is. He lies, smears, and sneers nonstop. The damfools who will vote for him no matter what he says or does cannot be reasoned with because they’re cultists. This merely serves to rub the noses of the somehow undecided in the disgusting aspects of Trump’s attitudes and behaviors. This town hall did no harm other than to CNN, and they took their chances. There’s exposure, and then there’s being exposed.
8Trump is ultimately a mirror. I’d call him a scumbag but he’s barely human if it all. He’d more closely be compared to a Bond villain that sustained a dramatic brain injury. With all humans there is even a sliver of goodness in there somewhere even if the person is ultimately evil. I see nothing good in whatever we are calling him.
Trump reflects the worst in all of us. Even those of us that reject him and his grievances are made worse. We are angrier. We lash out at friends and family. We are ultimately separated from the better part of ourselves and that’s just the people that reject his nonsense. For those that support him, he is a reflection of that dirty inner spirit they used to hide from the world.
I understand CNN’s decision. I really do. He’s officially the GOP front runner. Why wouldn’t you give him a platform? Except you know by now. At least you should know by now. He will never follow rules or commonly accepted norms. He will never pivot. He will never become “presidential”. We knew this long before, so if CNN says that they thought he’d obey rules or somehow move forward they are either lying or deluding themselves.
Ultimately, this is a collective opportunity for MSM. You can treat him as a story and legitimize him in a way or you can ignore and shun him. You can tell the GOP “you have to do better than this” or we are making a collective statement that they are backing democracy and common decency and we refuse to participate until those minimal conditions are met.
9I stopped watching useless exploitative television the day someone threw the first chair on Jerry Springer. Thus—-have missed 99% of any television Trump has been on. I knew of his
work before he became a candidate.
It will not go well for CNN. The problem with courting the crazies is—–you are courting the crazies. They will let Trump and his cult abuse them into oblivion. Or at least—-I’m hoping.
10We seem pretty much to be in agreement about dumping CNN and cable, etc. I got rid of my tv entirely fifty years ago and never have regretted it for a moment. My reasons at the time were that I hated commercials and the things I saw being peddled as entertainment for my kids. All was well until one Saturday morning when I heard them crying in their bedroom. They woke up, thought oh boy it’s Saturday, we can watch cartoons and then realized they couldn’t. i took them over to a friend’s and plunked them down to watch tv all morning. After that, it was okay. They did get to watch it sometimes at their grandparent’s house. As adults they have done the same. They, as well as their kids, live without tv.
11In the “olden” days, every news division of every network was regarded as a LOSS LEADER. In other words, providing news coverage was considered a public service, not a profit center. The advent of cable also brought ratings and competition for eyeballs to translate into ad revenue into the picture.
12People who get their information from the tube are uninformed people. If you want information, read newspapers.
13I’m sure if Charles Manson, Stalin, or Al Capone was the GOP front runner it would also be a good reason to support their position by airing a free campaign rally for them .
There’s ONLY one reason CNN decided to run a disgusting, unethical, immoral and downright wrong tRump campaign rally, complete with a right wing propaganda audience and rules, is because CNN is now owned and operated by MAGA ideology.
14(I posted on this earlier but JJ moderators shut me down.)
Hello Fox ‘Hate’ News, you now have more eyeball click competition!
Nick and the rest, rAmen Bruddahs.
15Harry, you’re a dinosaur. I used to be the same type, but no more. I have newspapers in my blood, delivered them from around the age of 7, always eagerly reading them. But most newspapers have been killed by technology as it’s moved onward. Some have adapted, other channels of information dissemination have developed, not always for the better.
As far as YKW, it may take a marksman to resolve this problem…
16Sandridge @ 11,
Or perhaps other alternatives:
An open window and a last time stumble
17Spontaneous combustion
A revengeful woman
A fatal Big Mac
“Trump is ultimately a mirror”……of his cult, a very warped, stained mirror. Wonder who his main handler is now because he is not that smart and needs someone to help him keep his lies straight and his mouth foul.
18Be aware that NewsNation and especially Chris Cuomo are angling for the Faux audience with frequent appearances of Bill O Reilly.
19“Network,” 1976. Money and ratings! Craven. Not a new concept
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