Let's talk about the news media

[Mischief]

ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, CNN, Fox News and Fox Business each confirmed by Monday evening that they would carry the president’s remarks. And though Trump has dubbed the non-Fox networks the “enemy of the people,” he still benefits from networks’ inclination to honor airtime requests for presidential addresses.

In 2014, four broadcast networks — CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox — declined to run a speech by President Barack Obama on immigration, while the cable networks aired the address. A network insider told POLITICO at the time that “there was agreement among the broadcast networks that [Obama’s speech] was overtly political.”

Major networks to carry Trump's shutdown address

 

[Amy SF]

Just a thought: You could have millions of people refusing to watch his address, and he’ll still say he had the biggest TV audience ever.

It’s no secret that the mainstream news media are run by corporations that benefit from Republican policies, such as tax cuts for the 1%. Many of the people who work for the corporations might be liberal, but their bosses are conservative and have influence over what their employees can and cannot report, and how they report what they do report.

 

[PTree15]

Just a thought: You could have millions of people refusing to watch his address, and he’ll still say he had the biggest TV audience ever.

It’s no secret that the mainstream news media are run by corporations that benefit from Republican policies, such as tax cuts for the 1%. Many of the people who work for the corporations might be liberal, but their bosses are conservative and have influence over what their employees can and cannot report, and how they report what they do report.

Like everything else in this country, ownership is being condensed and now lies in the hands of a (very rich) few. When I started in newspapers way back when, they were mainly privately owned, so there was diversity in voice, both liberal and conservative. Corporate ownership has decimated the industry (being slow to jump on the technological revolution bandwagon also did not help). When these news organizations became beholden to shareholders, that was the beginning of the end, IMHO. At least back in the day, you could go to the publisher and state your case for certain coverage, and there was a genuine interest in being fair in reporting regardless of ownership's political beliefs. We were taught that objectivity in reporting was key, regardless of one's biases. Bias creeps in no matter what; just word choice can indicate bias, intended or not. Because of the goal of objectivity, we were prohibited from taking part in protests, rallies or other political processes, save for voting. Avoiding the appearance of bias was paramount. That is not the case today with the major news outlets. Again, because of shareholder interest, it's all about ratings, clicks and readership, so "news" as it were, has become entertainment in the interest of increasing profits. Journalists have become celebrities in some cases, and the rise of the Rush Limbaughs of the world have helped further blur the line between journalism and entertainment.

 

[Andy_T]

Networks giving Trump free airtime on Tuesday refused to air Obama’s 2014 immigration speech

It reminds me of nothing so much as the systematic partisan imbalance in Sunday show bookings. Typically, when Republicans are in power, we’re told we get GOP-heavy guest lists to reflect what newsmakers are thinking. But when Democrats are in power, we’re told we get GOP-heavy guest lists to provide a counterpoint to officeholders.

I think a more parsimonious explanation might be that the key decision-makers in network television (wealthy anchors, executives, shareholders, etc.) benefit in concrete material ways from Republicans winning elections, and their conduct reflects that reality more than the private ideological convictions of rank-and-file workers.

 

[Mischief]

Networks giving Trump free airtime on Tuesday refused to air Obama’s 2014 immigration speech

Yes, that was the opening post.