CNN fades in prime-time picture (Dinosaur Media DeathWatch™)

Politico.com ^ | May 30, 2009 | Michael Calderone

[lakertaker]

CNN is not middle of the road. None of them are. The reason they use that term to describe CNN is because the left do not see themselves as, “the left.” They think there is a right wing and everybody else. No left wing

[reefdiver]

The common denominator of so called news organizations that loose ratings / advertisers, is that the more left they lean, the more they have to "earn" that trust back.

[Carley]

To suggest that CNN is middle of the road is to believe that O loves America, Israel, and the Queen of England.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

CNN International is more biased than Al-Jazerra.

[frankenMonkey]

CNN... you mean the channel where just last night on Wolfie’s show Christiane Amanpour breathlessly spoke about the “massive civilian deaths” caused by American missile attacks?

They might be ‘middle of the road’ but the road appears to be heading to Mecca.

[cajungirl]

I still have trouble knowing why Fox is so successful when at the ballot box, we lose.

Fox has gotten tabloid so bad I can hardly watch it,,is the success the tabloid factor?

There is no good news on anymore. I barely watch. If Brit Hume were on I would watch every night.

[Plumres]

Since Obama took office, CNN’s prime-time audience has dropped sharply, raising doubts about whether the network’s middle-of-the-road strategy can be effective against more opinionated programming on Fox News and MSNBC.

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Middle of the road? You are lucky if the GOP gets a kind word. CNN treats the GOP like an ex-spouse that cheated on you and took your house, your kids, your 401k and your dog in the settlement.

[nhwingut]

“Middle of the road?”

Teabagger Cooper, L King, Cam Brown, Rotund Roland Martin, Gasbag Gergen, Toobin, Schneider, The Kook on Blitzer, Begala, Carville... Etc.

Real middle of the road.

The only semi conservative I can think of is Lou Dobbs/

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

Middle of the road programming at cnn?Politico must be smoking some real radical sh!t.

[Yardstick]

the network’s middle-of-the-road strategy

[sarcastic eye roll]

Klein pointed out that "Anderson Cooper 360" is beating "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" at 10 p.m.

Guess the audience liked Cooper's "teabagger" jokes better than Olbermann's.

there’s also a perception of being stuck, in one's words, in “the murky middle.”

I would say CNN is soft left, FOX is soft right, and MSNBC is KOS left.

[Yardstick]

Back in the day, the environmental Left consciously set out to mainstream (verb) groups like the Sierra Club by creating and publicizing the more radical groups like Earth First. Doing so made the Sierra Club look centrist and respectable, even staid. It worked, and the left considers this to have been a very successful strategy.

I see the same thing going on with MSNBC and CNN. They are too competitive for it to be an agreed-to strategy but the effect is similar. Olbermann makes Cooper look like Cronkite.

I think it would cool if some deep-pocketed conservative got all strategeristical and created a truly right wing network to shift the perceived center point rightward. Then FOX would be one of the two “centrist” networks with CNN. In fact, with four networks there would be no true center as with three.

[KC_Conspirator]

The Politico is a liberal rag. I remember when CNN had an order in the late 90's from its execs to no longer use the term "scandal" when referring to the Klinton legal troubles. The same CNN that allowed George Steponallus to call into Larry King's show and ambush George Bush in 1992. The same CNN that allowed known DNC operatives to pose as "moderates" and ambush Republican candidates in the 2008 election.

Its not the hateful MSNBC, but its not middle of the road.

[Milhous]

Middle of the road programming at cnn?Politico must be smoking some real radical sh!t.

The dinomedia deadenders behind Politico brought their standard issue journalism bias with them from the WaPo. Politico also profited heavily from Obama political ads.

Politico now spends its profit trying establish itself as the new media authority on the Potomac. They want to be everybody's "go to" guys when it comes to understanding government. "Thought leaders" to help the governed get their mind right.

Politico's stories stink just enough to earn frequent shout outs from Matt Drudge. The two neo powers that be resonate with each other. Each day toiling mightily to turn molehills into mountains by growing whispered rumor into full blown scandal. LOL.

The popularity of Politico sourced stories on FR indicates success thus far.

[Condor51]

We used to watch CNN all the time. But then they statrted showing commercials during all the Movies and that was that.

Wait... that was AMC.
Never mind.

/s

[InterceptPoint]

One factor that was not mentioned but has affected the Fox vs. CNN ratings is the late arrival at Fox of true HD programming. Fox was basically faking it last year during the election cycle and even I, a loyal Freeper for sure, was turning to CNN for election coverage. CNN was way ahead of Fox technically until just a few months ago. But that advantage is gone and with it some number of viewers who instinctively prefer Fox programming. HD is in about 25% of homes these days and they are likely to be in homes with satellite or cable access so the impact of the Fox upgrade to true HD programming was an important factor. At least IMHO.

[Riodacat]

The road to success in the media (radio, cable or print) is to become "Howard Stern" outrageous.
Just being soft left or right when there are no compelling news stories is not going to cut it with todays mind numbed, largely ADD or ADHD undereducated masses.
Look at who is successful on the radio or cable and you see the winning formula.
Get outrageous, whether left, right, center or over-the-top and people will watch or listen. - IMHO

[Chode]

[Jabba the Nutt]

"...and that his network remains committed first and foremost to high-quality journalism."

They're in deep doo-doo. They don't do high-quality journalism. They're not middle of the road. They do inside the beltway conventional wisdom.

There's no market for inside the beltway conventional wisdom. There was no market for Nero's music, while Rome burned.

[GOPJ]

Thanks for the ping.

[Nuc1]

I still have trouble knowing why Fox is so successful when at the ballot box, we lose. Conservatives like knowing what is going on. Libtards like music. Fox is left of center as proven by a Berkly Professor some years back when he set out to prove how right wing Fox was, but it is the only game in town. What really surprised him was how left wing everyone else was. Sorry that I don't remember the name of the man but it was posted on FR at the time. Perhaps another FReeper could help? We loose at the ballot box because too many ignorant people vote.