In the New York Times today, there is a report about the collapse of the ratings for MSNBC. The collapse is true enough, but the way that the Times reports the story is actually extremely funny. The Times goes out of its way to try to ignore the blockbuster ratings at Fox News at the same time MSNBC is collapsing.
The truth avoidance begins with the headline: "Leaning Forward, MSNBC Loses Ground to Rival CNN." Really? In the last two years, CNN has seen its ratings spiral downward. During the same time MSNBC has done even worse. So, in the parlance of the times, MSNBC did lose ground to CNN. The problem with this analysis is that Fox News, the other cable news outlet, was just the highest rated channel in all of cable TV. That's right, Fox News beat the entertainment cable channels as well as the news channels. It was a stellar performance and included a major increase in viewership at a time when MSNBC and CNN were both losing viewers.
The Times blames much of the MSNBC collapse on a decline in all news viewership on cable TV. From reading the article, one would think that all of these cable channels are withering away, but it is not true. The Times only mentions Fox to point out that its prime time viewers are down from five years ago. Interestingly, the Times picks the 2008 election and the first few months of the Obama administration as the point of comparison. In those days, all of cable news was reaching high numbers.
MSNBC is losing viewers because there just are not enough true believers in the stuff that MSNBC peddles these days. Does anyone other than just a few really want to watch Al Sharpton deliver his daily attacks? Would anyone of sound mind watch The Ed Show for more than a minute after accidently changing the channel to it? Is there actually an audience for someone like Chris Hayes who seems more like he should be working after school at the local UPS store than on TV? Only Rachel Maddow, of all the hosts on MSNBC, is actually watchable if one is not already a true believer in leftist thought. But even watching Maddow has limits.
The truth is that MSNBC really is not a cable news channel. It is cable propaganda formulated around the news of the day. When all that pro-Obama propaganda was played against a backdrop of ignorance by most viewers, it got some people to watch. Now, however, after the Obama policies have proven so ineffective and even harmful to the country, no one wants to watch hymns of praise to the great leader Barack. It is just too painful.
The truth avoidance begins with the headline: "Leaning Forward, MSNBC Loses Ground to Rival CNN." Really? In the last two years, CNN has seen its ratings spiral downward. During the same time MSNBC has done even worse. So, in the parlance of the times, MSNBC did lose ground to CNN. The problem with this analysis is that Fox News, the other cable news outlet, was just the highest rated channel in all of cable TV. That's right, Fox News beat the entertainment cable channels as well as the news channels. It was a stellar performance and included a major increase in viewership at a time when MSNBC and CNN were both losing viewers.
The Times blames much of the MSNBC collapse on a decline in all news viewership on cable TV. From reading the article, one would think that all of these cable channels are withering away, but it is not true. The Times only mentions Fox to point out that its prime time viewers are down from five years ago. Interestingly, the Times picks the 2008 election and the first few months of the Obama administration as the point of comparison. In those days, all of cable news was reaching high numbers.
MSNBC is losing viewers because there just are not enough true believers in the stuff that MSNBC peddles these days. Does anyone other than just a few really want to watch Al Sharpton deliver his daily attacks? Would anyone of sound mind watch The Ed Show for more than a minute after accidently changing the channel to it? Is there actually an audience for someone like Chris Hayes who seems more like he should be working after school at the local UPS store than on TV? Only Rachel Maddow, of all the hosts on MSNBC, is actually watchable if one is not already a true believer in leftist thought. But even watching Maddow has limits.
The truth is that MSNBC really is not a cable news channel. It is cable propaganda formulated around the news of the day. When all that pro-Obama propaganda was played against a backdrop of ignorance by most viewers, it got some people to watch. Now, however, after the Obama policies have proven so ineffective and even harmful to the country, no one wants to watch hymns of praise to the great leader Barack. It is just too painful.
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