Once again this year, Fox News stomped the living daylights out its cable news competitors, getting higher ratings than CNN, MSNBC, and HLN combined... leading many people to ask "what the heck is HLN?" (Seriously, we had to look it up - it's the "opinion" offshoot of CNN which doesn't have to adhere to its parent network's allegedly-rigorous journalistic standards.)
CNN, in particular, saw its numbers plunge over the past year. But why?
We can get a pretty good idea when we consider a CNN "news" story this week in which anchorwoman Alina Cho hosted a "Where are they now?" segment, and asked infamous penis-slicer Lorena Bobbit if she is "finally able to laugh about it."
Along those same lines, we wonder if Ms. Cho asked "Where are they now?" about the 3000 people who used to work in the World Trade Center towers, and whether their survivors are laughing yet? Or perhaps she wondered about all of the people (every American, in fact) who were supposed to see medical and insurance costs go down because of Obamacare. Where are they now, and why aren't they laughing?
It's also curious that the Fox News ratings are so high considering that the network missed some of the biggest stories covered by their competitors this year, including the many ugly incidents of racism and terroristic violence perpetrated by the Tea Party. Fox also severely under-reported the Associated Press's biggest story of 2010, the permanent and devastating environmental damage which could have been caused by the BP Oil Spill, but didn't actually happen.
Overall, Hope n' Change found this to be a year that contained very little good news. But at least Fox continues to be a good news network...and that's a start.
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11 comments:
My favorite newspaper, The Wallstreet Journal, continues to do pretty well, too. And here's an early New Year's Eve toast to Stilton for helping us laugh amid the tears and idiocy of 2010.
Earl
Ditto that, Anonymous. I raise my glass to you, Stilton. May you continue to skewer the deserving skewerable...at least until the FCC finds a way to shut you down.
Woof! (wags tail)
This news comes just after Keith Overblown tweets that "Fox News is 100% bullsh!t". It figures that a twit like him would tweet something so absurd. I love Fox News because their unbiased reporting sets them apart from the idiots out there like Overblown and others. So to Fox and to Stilton I say keep up the good work!
Of course a news channel is going to have its ratings soar when it doesn't cover the racism, intolerance, and idiocy of its target demographic.
Also, who wants to watch boring news about oil spills? I mean I live if you live in Idaho, does it really matter that the shoreslines of Florida, Alabama, and Louisiana are covered in petroleum and their fishing industry has been destroyed? I wouldn't want to watch a news channel that didn't agree with my opinion, which is obviously correct. It's no small suprise Fox news took the lion's share of viewership this year.
Amirite?
StupidLiberal- You've got me a bit confused. You refer to racism and intolerance as if these were huge, breaking-news issues that only one network is trying to cover up. But there were no such incidents in the 2010 news cycle. The mainstream media reported that angry voters in Washington DC pelted noble African-American politicians with racial epithets and gobs of spit - but not a single piece of evidence was ever produced that it happened. In fact, the cameras that the politicians staffers were carrying in hopes of prompting such an incident showed that nothing inappropriate was said or done. Which didn't keep CNN, MSNBC and the mainstream media from making up an incident which never happened.
Also, Fox News provided boatloads (no pun intended) of coverage on the oil spill...but stuck to the facts. While other media sources were claiming that the spill would kill every living thing in the Gulf (which it didn't), and that the coasts and fishing industry were permanently destroyed (which they weren't), Fox News was pointing out the huge economic damage caused by Barack Obama's unilateral decision to close all deep-water drilling facilities against the advice of his expert panel.
Obviously, people are more inclined to watch a network which best matches their opinions...but there's a difference between "news" and "opinion." Fox is good about labeling that difference (I'd never suggest that Hannity, Beck, or O'Reilly are "news men") and really good about straight reporting of actual news. Fair and Balanced.
Stilton - I'd like to watch the Hope n' Change (HNC) network for news. Anything on the horizon for such a thing? Oprah Obama is getting her own network which I am sure will be sucky-uppy to the libs and other bleeding hearts.
Happy New Year to you, Stilton, and all the H n' C followers who brighten my day with their opinions...er, I mean facts.
Happy New Year to all...Fox is my tv source for the news, too! Amazing how two different news outlets can take the same story and relate it in different ways!
I remember the end of the war in Kuwait and all the burning oil wells, and how some scientists said it would affect the earth's climate for years...I swear, sometimes there is just too much drama in the news....pandering for ratings, I guess, but.....nothing can take the place of TRUTH in the news, and the American people know it. I have faith in the American people, we KNOW what the truth is, and how we are being led down the path of destruction! Keep educating yourselves, spreading the word that our homeland here is just fine...so, politicians,...STOP SCREWING IT UP!!!!
Keep up the good work, sir. I will be coming here in 2011!!
StupidLiberal speaks like all liberals. Never blame yourself or your dark ages views when no one likes you (and no one does). There must be something wrong with everyone else. If you're gay and no one likes gays then they must all be HOMOPHOBES. If you're liberal and no one likes you then they must all be LIBERPHOBES. I think that all Liberals suffer from Mental Retardation and are Realityaphobic, Christaphobic and Americaphobic. We should sterilize them all before they pollute the Gene Pool.
Bobo- Thanks for the thought, but the Hope n' Change empire currently doesn't include plans for opening a 24/7 news network, although if there are any conservatives out there with George Soros-type checkbooks, I'd be happy to talk about it!
Until then, Hope n' Change will remain the inspiring story of one man with a dream, an attitude, and a whole lot of clip art.
We're all adults here so let me just say..
And then the doctor looks at Mr. Clinton and says "Well, Mr President, that's just one of the curious differencess between Lipstick and Gangreen."
(Laughter)
Thank you thank you.... Sure has been a lot of snow lately... Even in D.C. I hear....
....And the Secret Service guy looks at Mr. Clinton and says.... "But the hand writing was that of the Secretary of State."
(Laughter)
Come on, you guys making ME do all the work here...
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