While Americans continue to put global warming aka climate change at the bottom of the list of worries, it seems the electronic media outlets that most often push alarming climate stories are losing favor. This interesting juxtaposition was from my Shoptalk TVSpy business newsletter today:
CNN Fails to Stop Fall in Ratings – from The New York Times
CNN continued what has become a precipitous decline in ratings for its prime-time programs in the first quarter of 2010, with its main hosts losing almost half their viewers in a year.
The trend in news ratings for the first three months of this year is all up for one network, the Fox News Channel, which enjoyed its best quarter ever in ratings, and down for both MSNBC and CNN.
CNN had a slightly worse quarter in the fourth quarter of 2009, but the last three months have included compelling news events, like the earthquake in Haiti and the battle over health care, and CNN, which emphasizes its hard news coverage, was apparently unable to benefit. More…
Fox News Has Best Quarter In Network History – from Mediaite
Fox News had their best year of all time in 2009. Now that we’ve finished the first quarter of 2010, it’s clear FNC is showing no signs of letting up –they just finished their best quarter ever, in total day total viewers.
It was also the second highest rated quarter ever in prime time total viewers.
While Fox News continues to see record ratings, their cable news competitors are dropping off even more year-to-year. In the A25-54 demographic during prime time, FNC was up 16%, while CNN dropped 42%, MSNBC was down 22% and HLN was down 40%. More…
One last comment: Where do these rating numbers come from? The media? Are you sure this data is any better than NASA’s or other AGW hoaxers? As a former news hound I now rarely watch the news as I realize I am being manipulated when I do. CNN is a propaganda site (but really, when did all those ex-generals become liberals??????) and so is FOX and all others in the club. I trust sites like this far more.
I think we can all agree there is a difference between the news coverage on Fox News and the commentary — something many critics disingenuously pretend are the same thing.
I gave up premium
cabalcable a long time ago, so I haven’t watched CNN since the last airport I walked through (and there I usually prefer listening to my iPod). I will never knowingly pay for CNN, MSNBC, HLN, Spike, MTV, Court TV, … I’d rather invest in a robust internet connection. Someday, if a la carte cable ever comes to fruition, I may invest in a cable or satellite service once again, but my feeling is that cable will go the way of the horse and buggy (or the video rental store!) once internet bandwidth expands sufficiently.What I don’t understand is why Fox News continues to be skeptical on the AGW issue when just a few years back it was widely reported that Rupert Murdoch had become convinced that climate change was the biggest threat facing mankind. Did he at some point become a skeptic again? Or is Murdoch simply being a good businessman and giving his audience what they want instead of using the news to further his own agenda ala Ted Fonda-Turner?
The last time I visited the CNN web site (before today) was a few years ago when they had a section called something like “Science News”. I clicked on the main page to get a list of the “science” stories and every single one had something to do with global warming — species extinction due to global warming, rising sea levels from global warming, hurricanes, droughts, famines, floods, you name it. It was absolutely sickening. They could have at least been honest and called it “Global Warming Propaganda” because it sure as heck wasn’t science or news.
Anyway, I just revisited the CNN site and noticed that the “Science News” section was no longer there. Gone. Obliterated. After some googling I discovered the reason why: http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/04/science-coverage-imploding-at-cnn-beyond/
What a pleasant surprise! Unfortunately CNN has already so completely alienated me that I have no interest in ever viewing their site or their news channels ever again. Besides, I’ve already grown to like Neil Cavuto on the Fox Business Network. He’s smart, honest, and comes off as very genuine. I can’t imagine CNN ever producing anything like Cavuto or Happy Hour which is another show I watch.
The Clinton News Network should just change its name to the All Obama, Always Right All the Time network.
Or the “We shill for Al Gore” Network.
Tenuc (12:48:11) wrote: “I’m not too surprised that this has happened in the US. Here in England. the BBC News is having the same problem of bias, as is much of the rest of the MSM.”
That is putting it very mildly! They have been non-stop AGW propagandists until recently. Now they say little – and of course barely mention Climategate.
They have always been propagandists but since Tony Bliar it has got so bad now that I call them – with all due respect to their accents – Monty Python’s Ministry of Truth.
I think the news media is biased, as is a lot of the information people get online. The person giving the news always has a way of interjecting their opinion, be that in tone or actual words. It seems to be human nature to try to make people think the way we want them to think, to agree with our beliefs as if it somehow validates what we believe.
Us old guys like to watch Fox News because of the beautiful, leggy women. OTH, I really hate to watch O’Reilly or Hannity. They do OK, but, I get the feeling that I am hearing the same old stuff everyday, and that’s tiresome.
“CNN executives have steadfastly said that they will not change their approach to prime-time programs, which are led by hosts not aligned with any partisan point of view.”
I laughed out loud when I read this quote from the NYT – a perfect example (if we needed another) of the bias in the MSM.
I continue to be amazed that one of the major networks (NBC, CBS or ABC) hasn’t mad a break from the liberal mindset and moved to the center. Can you imagine the money they would make from the increased viewership? Old habits die hard, I guess…
FOX news came into prominence during the Bush Administration so I’m not to sure with the argument that because Obama’s in office people are flocking to the contrarian view. I would agree that as a network it leans right but it will always give the most complete and accurate presentations of the news.
Try this out. Watch how FOX and MSNBC or CNN cover the same story. See which one will provide the sound clips with the relavent background, and which one will play a sound bite to lead you believe a story is one way or the other.
One that pops in my head was the coverage of a teach party protest last summer. MSNBC showed a clip of a man with a rifle on his back and proceeded to call the protests racists against Obama. On FOX, same clip except the camera pans up and low and behold that protester is a black man. It didn’t fit the MSNBC narrative so it wasn’t shown.
westcoasttiger said “Both sides, politically and newswise, play largely by the same rules – twisting and spinning to their advantage. Politics now is now more than ever a football game, neither side really caring what’s best for Americans but rather just wanting to WIN.”.
That is simply NOT TRUE. Stalin URSS was an utter murderous regime where we were told that our DUTY was to satisfy the politicians and bureaucrats perverted depraved insatiable lust for power, money and blood by letting them steal all our property, rob our children, take OUR LIVES and our LOVED ONES lives´s and be sadistically punished to death when there was no crime. We were told too that we should let politicians and bureaucrats take TOTAL control of our lives and that we should let them have ABSOLUTE power over us. That was our DUTY, to satisfy their depraved lust by letting us be killed, robed, maimed, tortured sadistically to death and be controlled zombies from craddle to grave.
Stalin URSS was a total nightmare and the USA a decent place but stalinnists often talked about a “symmetry” between URSS and USA as you do know. But that symmetry clearly did not existed and was used to make murderous URSS look as a “decent” regime like USA always was. The URSS collapsed while the USA stands as the world superpower, that shows that the alleged “symmetry” was another lie to justify one of the most infamous and murderous regimes ever, 61 million unarmed people were murdered in the URSS.
And Big Media like New York Times (NYT) whitewashed the Stalin murders. People like Glenn Beck have been denouncing those Stalin crimes and too denouncing the lies by IPCC, CRU and others in the AGW SCAM while NYT has been pushing the usual lies in search of more opressive power for politicians.
If CNN, NYT and others promoters of more opressive power for politicians and bureaucrats are collapsing it is mainly beacause websites like wattsupwiththat.com (WUWT) are showing people the HUGE amount of lies, fallacies and falsehoods that big Media, Big Academia and Big Bureaucracy have been feeding us for milleniums. A few years ago very few WONDERFUL sites like WUWT existed, now they are more and more of them and they are increasingly the main source of news: People cannot be hoaxed anymore into believing the lies promoting opressive power that Big Media, Big Academia and Big Bureaucracy permanently feeds us.
I do not allege that Fox and Republicans are a bunch of saints, but it is pretty clear that one group want to be left alone -republicans- while the other group -democrats- are always pushing for ways for controlling our lives, for getting our belongings, for giving even more opressive power to politicians and bureaucrats, for inventing crimes where there is no crime.
If I let you alone I am not IMPOSING anything on your life. I let you have your life and belongings under your free will. But if you come to me and you impose me taxes, regulations, you forbid me to use co2, you force me to pay social security to wasteful arrogant government you are doing a VERY DCIFFERENT act: YOU ARE MESSING UP MY LIFE, you are controlling my life, you are messing up with me. That is what Obama and the democrats do: They MESS up our lives, they force you to do things you do not want to do, they invent crimes and duties whose goal is to increase the politicians control over our lives. In order to allege that paradise is reached when your life is in total control by politicians and bureaucrats you have to lie and lie and lie and build gigantic SCAMS like Mainly Man Made Global Warming: They must lie in order to allege that we should surrender our freedom, our possesions and even our lives to them.
There is no symettry and that is why FOX -who has people like Glenn Beck- is going up while CNN, NYT are collapsing. People are FED UP with being told that we must be slaves. Now, thanks to the internet, the TRUTH is known and those pushers of more opressive power -CNN, NYT, etc- should CHANGE or perish!
NYT: CNN executives have steadfastly said that they will not change their approach to prime-time programs, which are led by hosts not aligned with any partisan point of view. ”
Yeah, sure…
IMHO CNN’s biggest problem is in the news they don’t report. There are so many examples over the years, like “climategate,” etc., etc., where the internet is abuzz with talk and debate on a news event and CNN and the other MSM outlets are simply mute. And, I must say, this self censorship is INVARIABLY, without question, ALWAYS to protect or benefit causes or politicians dear to the left leaning in our society. Why is that? Censorship, especially self imposed, reveals deep partisanship. FOX, by contrast, does not seem to suffer the same selective muteness of the MSM. Some people may not like their reporting but, at least they’re reporting.
I’m with westcoasttiger entirely. The UK’s (soon to be former-) mainstream media sucks atrociously but it does at least have a legal responsibility to present balance – even if it hides behind the IPCC AR4 to excuse its AGW biases. In the US, the legal obligations are – as far as I can tell – completely absent, and its news reporting is free to be as perversely partisan and twisted as it wishes. Fox constantly presents opinion as fact, just as the other channels do.
I wouldn’t presuppose the reason for Fox’s gains in popularity, but I’d wager that at least a statistically significant number tune in with morbid curiosity to hear Palin’s malaprops or to see whether the insane Glenn Beck will finally succumb to the nervous breakdown that is quite clearly pending.
I visit/watch media outlets for a variety of reasons as I suspect do many of you. WUWT is visited for rational contrarian views on human AGW and the good discount coupons for beer. CNN lost my conservative patronage not for their liberal/green point of view but for Anderson Cooper’s vile characterization of outraged citizens as perverted tea baggers. I may be civil but I can carry a grudge for an awfully long time.
What about the Search engines, Yahoo and Google, is “Al Baby” behind both?
I thought it was funny that The New York Times is reporting on the lack of viewers at CNN……..Isn’t the New York Times about to be kicked down the stairs also?
Last I checked, NYT has fired most of their staff and is having a hard time paying the electric bill………..even with the Obama subsidies. They don’t have much room to talk.
Vote this moron out of office:
This is how a real moron looks like:
http://www.greenvilleonline.com/article/20100330/BUSINESS/303300011/1011/NEWS03/Lindsey-Graham-vows-legislation-on-carbon-emissions
Forgetting the religious aspect of the story (re.: the following link) you can see how CNN operates – pick a star with the correct point-of-view and let them talk their foolish heads off. Is anyone surprised why CNN is about to go under?
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/brent-bozell/2010/03/30/using-sinead-oconnor-attack-catholic-church-despicable
The best explanation I ever heard about the success of Fox News was that Rupert Murdoch “discovered a niche market in American broadcasting — half the American people.”
With a predominantly center-right population, you can’t keep broadcasting center-left content without eventually going out of business. Either CNN will become very small, or its going to have to become more balanced in its offerings.
tj (12:53:51) :
The reason many honest liberal people are fed up with Obama is he is not acting like what they perceive to be liberal rather he is acting like a conservative>>
Say WHAT?
NASA sure has fallen a long way over the past few years. Times are so tough they are opening an auto repair shop. I guess they intend to staff it with climate scientists since they have so much tuning experience.
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/NASA-Obama-NAS-NRC-Accelerator,news-6313.html
It’s a whitewash
As predicted the Science and Technology committee has come out with the expected whitewash.
Scientists at a leading British climate research centre had a culture of withholding information from global warming sceptics but did not deliberately manipulate data to support their case, politicians said today.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/0330/breaking78.html
Some here disparage Glenn Beck but I suggest looking past the “theatrics” (although they’re pretty effective) and listen to the MESSAGE. At his suggestion, I’m even ordering a few books on the background of the constitution that they never bothered to teach or even mention when I attended school. Why, for example, did lawyers turn their study to case law after the 1920’s instead of looking at what the founding fathers wrote to justify the LAW!
Now the heading to the Fox News web site shouts “CLIMATEGATE II”. At least one news organization gets it.
The appeal of FOX? It’s not so much that it supposedly is right of center; it’s more that at FOX, there are no sacred cows. And yes, there’re plenty of opinion segments and most people have the brains to figure out which is opinion and which is fact; the nation is not a nation of knuckle-draggers, despite the presumtive arrogance of the elite self-appoointed opinion molders at the other news outlets.
It has nothing to do with content. Fox has the best looking women broadcasters.