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| Economy |
| News about the news |
| 2009-12-20 |
| This era is like no other in American journalism: People are consuming more news than ever before, but they're also far more critical of its purveyors than they've ever been. We remain generally agreed that a free press is democracy's cornerstone, but there's less consensus than ever on what the news media ought to be -- or, for that matter, what rapid technological, economic and demographic change will allow it to be. That makes three sets of little-noticed numbers released this week of more than passing interest. The first set has to do with the audiences of the three cable news networks. For the first time, CNN's prime-time broadcasts will finish the year in third place, behind Fox and MSNBC among the 25- to 54-year-old viewers advertisers regard as the desirable television audience. To some, that seems to suggest that the television news audience is increasingly split along ideological lines. Fox has made itself king of the prime-time ratings hill by programming a slate of right-wing commentators, while MSNBC has set itself up as the progressive alternative. CNN's attempt to play it down the journalistic middle looks like a ratings loser. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #8 What is "television"? |
| Posted by: lex 2009-12-20 21:00 |
| #7 The death of "dead-tree media" isn't the result of people not paying attention, but of the fact they ARE paying attention. The same thing is killing newspapers that is killing many other businesses - a strong left-wing slant in the training of the people entering the field. That goes right back to our universities and colleges. There is no "middle ground" in any non-scientific field - it's either hard-left, or it's ignored and the non-compliant professors finding themselves without a job. Our colleges are training a bunch of people to approach every problem from one direction, and one direction only. The fact that many such problems CANNOT be solved from the leftist viewpoint is ignored. Eventually, online colleges and universities will overwhelm the ivory-tower bastions of "classic" education, and they, too, will die, just as most of today's true journalism occurs online. Rantburg is a much better "newspaper" than the LA Times could ever be. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2009-12-20 15:01 |
| #6 This is the same thing liberals said to newspapers and other businesses when they wanted to gain more power. It wasn't true then and it isn't true now. I think the bias present in all news organizations is the symptom rather than the cause of the disease. It is a symptom of a diseased organization which has gone in size beyond a certain point that its product becomes diminished in value. When that malaise sets in, elements in the organization seek to change the inputs, rather than examine the cause of the decline, ( the large unwieldiness of the institution ) which is a very human and understandable error. And the institution may not have changed at all in size to be affected. Other institutions may have also come into the market to market the same product. The size may not have changed but the institution has because its share of the market has declined, making the institution too large for the market it is in. The internet has changed the game forever, and news organizations being in many cases large and unwieldy institutions are slow to react positively to the changes instead preferring to rattle their lawyers' briefcases about intellectual property, or to purchase a property they see assisting them in their drive to remain competitive and profitable. The world is flooded with media of every type imaginable. Fox is successful because they are marketing editorial viewpoints which appeal to a larger segment of the potential audience than the other news institutions. They are meeting demand. CNN and MSNBC are not meeting anything but the exit, Stage Left |
| Posted by: badanov 2009-12-20 10:57 |
| #5 Chomosh - "Loose the bias LA Times, New York Times, San Franciso Gate, Chicago Tribune and all you other Zero supporters. You have lost the trust of your American readership." They would rather fly their papers and everything they are supposed to represent into the ground, rather than change their outlook. They are desperately hoping - and in some cases actively negotiating - for the same kind of bailout the auto industry got, believing that the One cannot live without them. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2009-12-20 10:32 |
| #4 to the LA Times, CNN is conservative |
| Posted by: Frank G 2009-12-20 10:25 |
| #3 The question now is whether, once the recession recedes, U.S. papers will be in a position to satisfy it Answer: What U.S. papers, the majority are sliding down into bankruptcy, pulling back their correspondents, loosing advertising revenue. Loose the bias LA Times, New York Times, San Franciso Gate, Chicago Tribune and all you other Zero supporters. You have lost the trust of your American readership. |
| Posted by: Chomosh the Scantily Clad3750 2009-12-20 08:42 |
| #2 And this IS the LA Times! |
| Posted by: tipover 2009-12-20 04:14 |
| #1 FTA: "Fox has made itself king of the prime-time ratings hill by programming a slate of right-wing commentators, while MSNBC has set itself up as the progressive alternative. CNN's attempt to play it down the journalistic middle looks like a ratings loser." CNN is down the middle? I think I would take this analysis with more than a grain of salt. |
| Posted by: tipover 2009-12-20 04:13 |