MSNBC

Fox News Primetime Shows are Bleeding Audience, Advertisers, and Revenue Due to Excessive Assholery

Posted by on February 7, 2019 at 12:59 pm. 7 Comments :

The news just keeps getting worse for Donald Trump’s favorite television network. Over the past three months Fox News has been thrashed in the Nielsen ratings by MSNBC, particularly by Rachel Maddow who has topped her competition, Sean Hannity, almost every night since the November midterm election.

Fox News, Titanic

Now TheWrap is reporting that Hannity’s primetime colleagues have problems of their own. Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham have both been the targets of advertiser boycotts as a result of commentaries that were especially loathsome. Not that their regular topics don’t routinely offend decent people. But even these weasels can cross lines that are impossible to ignore:

“According to an analysis for TheWrap by advertising data firm Standard Media Index, Fox News’ 10 p.m. slot, hosted by Ingraham, was down at least $16 million in ad revenue in 2018. Carlson’s show, which airs at 8 p.m., has lost another $2.2 million thanks to an ad boycott that began in December after he said mass immigration makes the U.S. ‘poorer, and dirtier, and more divided.'”

Tucker Carlson’s flagrant white nationalism has become a staple of his nightly program. It’s unconscionable that any advertisers continue to support him. But the exodus of ads has definitely proven to be more than a temporary setback. Carlson is currently is running about half of the ads he had prior to the boycott. And they have been replaced by unpaid Fox promos and public service announcements.

Laura Ingraham’s problems began after she attacked the survivors of the Parkland, Florida high school shooting. These are kids who suffered a nightmare that no one should ever face, but who Ingraham considered fair game for even more abuse. She is also notorious for her racist and elitist views, such as when she said that basketball legend and philanthropist LeBron James should “shut up and dribble.” Now her advertisers have also been cut in half.

Fox News is standing behind their repugnant hosts. They insist that they will not be bullied by lefties like Media Matters and Sleeping Giants. What’s more, they contend that they haven’t lost any revenue as a result of these boycotts because the ads were merely “shifted to other dayparts.” That’s an outright lie. It would mean that the other programs had unsold ad inventory that these ads could be slipped into. But even if they do, that means they still lost money because they were only replacing one ad for another. Additionally, an ad in primetime costs much more than other dayparts, so such shifting would require those ads to be discounted.

And that’s not all. With MSNBC taking the number one spot in most of the primetime cable news market, Fox News would have to lower their ad rates because advertisers aren’t going pay a premium for a number two network. And with that change in leadership comes an even bigger problem for Fox. Like every cable channel, Fox News makes most of its profits through licensing fees from cable system operators. They currently have a very lucrative contract that was negotiated at the height of their ratings success. Now that they are no longer the leader, those contracts will decline in value when they are up for renewal.

All of this is due to Fox’s determination to advance a radical right-wing agenda and to serve as the State TV mouthpiece for Donald Trump. It’s an unsustainable business model as the nation wakes up from its temporary lapse in judgement and rejects Trump and the sycophantic, cult-like GOP that he commandeered.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

The midterm election that produced a historic shift in party control in the House of Representatives was just the beginning. And as the legal consequences of Trump’s criminal and treasonous activities unfold, Fox is going to find itself in ever deeper trenches of muck. That’s surely not going boost their bottom line.

Rachel Maddow Leads MSNBC to a January Freeze-Out of Sean Hannity and State TV (aka Fox News)

Posted by on January 30, 2019 at 10:11 am. 6 Comments :

The new year has started off with big bang for MSNBC and its star anchor Rachel Maddow. For the past couple months her program has been smothering her Fox News competition, Sean Hannity. It began immediately after the midterm election on November 6th and hasn’t slowed down since. And January’s results confirm that it was no fluke. Maddow has definitely caught fire and her sharp analysis and engaging manner of unfolding complex subjects is clearly winning over viewers.

Rachel Maddow, Sean Hannity

Some of the highlights from the January Nielsen ratings include that Maddow was the number one non-sports show on all of cable, not just just news programming. She dominated in both total audience and the advertiser friendly 25-54 demographic. Her success helped drive up the performance of her primetime colleagues Lawrence O’Donnell and Brian Williams. In fact, that bloc of programming won every hour for the entire month.

Maddow’s show contributed to MSNBC’s impressive audience growth. It gained fourteen percent in total day, and six percent in prime time versus January 2018. During the same time period Fox News declined significantly. It’s total day viewership was down eleven percent. In primetime Fox News lost ten percent. And those numbers were even worse for in the 25-54 demo: down twenty-one percent total day, and twenty percent in the demo.

Almost as satisfying as Maddow’s success is the failure of Fox’s Sean Hannity. Once the unchallenged cable news champ, Hannity’s total ratings crashed nineteen percent since the midterms in November. His fall in the demo was a massive thirty percent. His Fox News lead-in, Tucker Carlson, didn’t fare any better. He was Fox’s top program, but he trailed Maddow by seventeen percent in total audience, and by nineteen percent in the demo. It’s a relief to know that America’s television viewers are recognizing the hatred and racism that emanates from the likes of Carlson and Hannity and are changing the channel.

What’s more, Carlson and Laura Ingraham are suffering from an advertiser exodus due to their offensive positions. Carlson mainly for his open advocacy of white nationalism. And Ingraham for her attacks on the kids from Parkland, Florida, who survived the school shooting last year. So their shows are not only losing viewers, but they aren’t making any money either.

In addition to the solid wins by Maddow, there was good news in January’s numbers for the rest of the MSNBC roster. The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell and The 11th Hour with Brian Williams were both number one in both total audience and the demo. Morning Joe rose fourteen percent while its competition, Fox and Friends, sunk ten percent. Hardball was number one in total viewers. And the programs hosted by Chris Hayes, Ari Melber, Stephanie Ruhle, Hallie Jackson, Craig Melvin, Andrea Mitchell, Ali Velshi, and Katy Tur all posted record numbers. One particular standout was Deadline: White House with Nicolle Wallace, which was number one in total viewers, beating perennial Fox News host Neil Cavuto.

The days of Fox News dominating the cable news ratings are definitely over. And thanks for that should go to Rachel Maddow for redefining how a successful news program can be produced. She does not follow the daily tweetstorming of the President, and never hosts panels of belligerent partisans yelling over each other. She presents detailed examinations of serious issues in an honest and accessible way, and respects her audience.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

But some thanks should also go to Donald Trump for behaving like a loathsome cretin whose flagrant lies are driving away whatever few rational thinkers are still left watching Fox News. Those who remain are the barrel-bottom crud who enjoy wallowing in ignorance and will never be pried loose from their cult worship.

Scared Bro? Trump is Featuring Rachel Maddow in His Phony ‘Media Accountability’ Come-Ons

Posted by on December 14, 2018 at 11:58 am. 3 Comments :

Throughout his public life – and especially while president – Donald Trump has demonstrated what an awful poker player he would be. He has what pros call a “a tell” that gives away what cards he’s holding. And for the most part, Trump is holding a hand that is panic full of fear. He displays that on a nearly daily (hourly?) basis with his insipid “Witch Hunt” tweets and his frantic attacks on special counsel Robert Mueller.

Donald Trump, Rachel Maddow

Of course, Trump is also squarely focused on the media that he refers to in Stalinist terms as “the enemy of the people.” His frightened reaction to every new disclosure of wrongdoing by him or his crime family is obvious to anyone paying the least bit of attention. And the more he attacks CNN or the New York Times or whatever reporter happens to ask him the probing question of the day, the more he reveals what’s scaring him the most at that moment.

So what’s clearly scaring Trump now is MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. Trump’s “Make America Great Again” reelection committee just posted an ad Facebook that asks his dimwitted cult followers to take a survey, and Rachel Maddow is featured in the ad’s graphic, although not in the video to which it links. She’s the bait for this campaign that implores his fans to “Take the Survey.”

The alleged “survey,” however, is an old marketing trick aimed at getting respondents to sign up and divulge personal information, including their email addresses. These are later used to beg for donations and organize political events. The results of the fake survey are never published, and if they were they wouldn’t have any real value due to the smarmy tactics used to lure respondents. Like everything else Trump does, it is hardly scientific.

So what’s the news that has triggered Trump’s assault on Maddow, someone he rarely even mentions? Right now Maddow is perhaps the most insightful and effective commentator on Trump’s exploding legal problems. She is dissecting them in a coherent and relatable manner. But is that enough to set him off. After all, he has never tweeted about her since becoming president. Although he did retweet his son Eric once, nearly a year ago. And that retweet contains a clue:

Trump is very concerned about his friend, and “shadow” chief of staff, Sean Hannity. Lately Maddow has been beating the pants off of Hannity. She has dominated him in the ratings ever since the election last month. So far in December she has beaten him every single day in both total viewers and the all-important advertising demo of 25-54 year olds. So it looks like Trump is rushing in to rescue the floundering Hannity. Or maybe someone at Fox News reached out for this aid.

Let’s not forget that the former president of Fox News, Bill Shine (who was fired for mishandling the sexual misconduct of Fox CEO Roger Ailes and host Bill O’Reilly) is now Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications. Or that Shine was Hannity’s producer before being bumped up to the executive suites. So it isn’t particularly surprising that Maddow would suddenly appear as the face of the “Mainstream Media … out to bring down [his] Administration.” In reality, he’s doing that pretty much on his own. Maddow is merely providing a factual chronicle of the criminal path that Trump chose for himself. But consistent with his warped character flaws, he’s determined to blame it on someone – anyone – else.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

The Blue Wave Swept MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Into First Place for November 2018

Posted by on November 30, 2018 at 3:29 pm. 2 Comments :

The 2018 midterm elections truly lived up to the pre-election hype. All the talk of a “Blue Wave” panned out as Democrats took the majority in the House of Representatives with more gains (40 seats) than any election since Watergate. In addition, they flipped seven governorships, seven statehouse majorities, and almost 400 state legislative seats. It was an unambiguous blowout for the Trump Resistance.

Rachel Maddow

But there was a victory that was not related to the the electoral one. The campaign for the eyes and ears of America’s television news viewers also tilted broadly to the left. The perennial leader, Fox News, suffered a decline in November versus their numbers for November 2017. So did CNN. But MSNBC had a notable gain. And that increase was driven by the popularity of their primetime anchor, Rachel Maddow.

Following the election on November sixth, the ratings for Maddow went steadily up. She was the top performing program on cable news for the rest of the month. Her competition, Sean Hannity, was unable to keep up. Maddow pulled in total 2.9 million viewers on average per night, compared to Hannity’s 2.8 million. And in the advertiser demographic of 25-54 she did 527,000, far exceeding Hannity’s 497,000.

Throughout much of this time period the election was still in progress as many districts continued to count votes in close races. That might have held the interest of viewers for Maddow, but you have to wonder why it didn’t do the same for Hannity’s audience. The difference may be that the election wasn’t the only story being told.

Donald Trump was doing his part by inflaming new scandals every other day. They included his callous response to the California fires; his ever-present battle with the media; the ongoing inaction to the murder of a journalist, and U.S. resident, Jamal Khashoggi; his embarrassing neglect of respect for fallen troops during his junket to France; and so many more it’s hard to keep track.

Maddow was studiously reporting on all of these issues and more. While Fox News was desperately trying to figure out ways to avoid these subjects altogether. Consequently they wound up recycling their typically ludicrous “War on Christmas” fare or regurgitated segments about Hillary Clinton’s emails. No wonder even Fox’s viewers turned away.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Whatever the reasons, Maddow showed that she is still a force to reckoned with. And as the new year brings a myriad of stories about congressional investigations into Trump and his crime family, along with the expected release of a report by special counsel Robert Mueller, the future looks bright for Maddow and MSNBC. Meanwhile, Fox viewers can look forward to more of this:

https://twitter.com/xeni/status/1068323471644479488

Trump’s Attack on the Free Press Escalates with Help from His Shadow Cabinet: Fox News

Posted by on November 12, 2018 at 3:27 pm. 1 Comments :

Having just returned from embarrassing America overseas, Donald Trump is resuming his obsessive campaign against the free press and the Constitution. This preoccupation with what he calls “the enemy of the people” is being pursued in lieu of honoring fallen troops on this Veterans Day, directing aid to the victims of the California fires, or performing any other routine presidential duties.

Donald Trump, Censorship

One thing that Trump can be expected to never neglect is his “Executive Time,” otherwise known as tweeting and watching Fox News. And on Monday that’s precisely what has been occupying his short attention span. In particular was a tweet wherein Trump complained about the alleged antitrust violations of the media megalith Comcast/NBCU:

Note that Trump is quoting from a comment by Fox Business contributor Charlie Gasparino, because Trump is incapable of having an original thought. Trump (via Gasparino) is terribly concerned about a report that the “American Cable Association has big problems with Comcast.” For those unfamiliar with the television video distribution market, the ACA is a lobbying group that represents small cable and broadband providers. It isn’t especially surprising that they are troubled by the business practices of a giant competitor.

To be clear, there are legitimate reasons to oppose Big Media enterprises like Comcast or AT&T/Time Warner or Verizon. But rest assured that Trump has no idea what those reasons are. He is narrowly focused on only what affects him personally. That’s why he opposes the AT&T/Time Warner merger (TW owns CNN). And it’s why he’s whining about Comcast/NBCU today (they own NBC/MSNBC). The fact that such mergers wind up giving consumers fewer choices and that cost more money never enters Trump’s ego-driven, cartoon brain.

Fortunately, the incoming chair of the House Intelligence Committee is planning to hold hearings on Trump’s flagrantly self-serving assaults on the media. Among other things, they should prove that Trump couldn’t care less about antitrust laws. You’ll notice that he never complains about Disney, which owns ABC and just bought most of the assets of the parent corporation of Fox News (but not including Fox News). And he strongly supported the planned Sinclair/Tribune merger, which was blocked by his own Justice Department. Those are both rabidly right-wing media firms that shill for Trump on a 24/7 basis. Never mind that the merger would have resulted in a conglomerate that owned more local television stations than any other in America.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

So while fires rage in California, our foreign allies are laughing at us, our veterans are neglected, our cities are tormented by mass shootings, our economy is declining, and democracy is being subverted by Republican Nationalist Party efforts to suppress voting in Florida, Georgia, Arizona, and elsewhere, Trump is keeping his powder (and his orange bird’s nest of a wig) dry by staying indoors and live-tweeting Fox News. And the rancid smell of his panic is only going to become more pungent as the January inauguration of the new Democratic majority in the House of Representatives gets closer.

Rachel Maddow is Leading MSNBC to Record Ratings, the Only Cable News Net to Gain Viewers

Posted by on August 28, 2018 at 10:14 pm. 2 Comments :

While Donald Trump is dragging his presidency down to the depths of the abyss, he might deserve some credit for lifting MSNBC up to the heights of ratings Valhalla. For the month of August MSNBC achieved a significant milestone, becoming the the second-most-watched network across all of basic cable. And the network’s star, Rachel Maddow, had the number one show for total viewers on cable TV for the last week of August.

Rachel Maddow

This ratings bonanza took place as Trump’s world was crumbling. His campaign manager, Paul Manafort, was convicted on eight felonies. His personal attorney, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to eight felonies of his own. And Trump’s inner circle suffered some serious ruptures. His long-time friend, and publisher of the National Enquirer, David Pecker, was granted immunity by federal prosecutors. The same goes for the CFO of the Trump Organization, Allen Weisselberg. Immunity is not handed out unless the recipients were exposed to serious legal jeopardy and had something useful to trade for their get-out-jail-free card.

These sort of news events may have brought viewers hungry for credible reporting to MSNBC resulting in their ratings wins last week. But the whole month notched gains that were noteworthy. In fact, MSNBC’s primetime rose over their draw in 2017, while both CNN and Fox News declined. Maddow’s contribution to that was scoring the top show rating in all of cable TV for the whole month in the 25-54 demographic. To be clear, she not only beat Sean Hannity head-to-head, but every other show of any type on basic cable.

The remainder of the MSNBC schedule was equally as successful with viewers. Everyone from Chris Hayes to Lawrence O’Donnell to Ari Melber to Brian Williams to Joy Reid, enjoyed record breaking numbers. The daytime crew, including Ali Velshi, Stephanie Ruhle, Hallie Jackson, Nicolle Wallace, and Katy Tur, all notched substantial gains as well.

If this is any indication of how the content of the news can affect ratings, there is sure to be more good news to come. Manafort’s next trial in Washington, D.C. is scheduled to begin in mid September. And almost every day there are new revelations that bring Trump’s dismal fate closer to realization. Much of them unveiled by his own big mouth and fat Twitter fingers. And as events continue to unfold, America’s television viewers will continue to seek out truthful accounts of the breaking news.

That’s good news for MSNBC. And as for Fox News, they can surely rely on their cult followers to keep their numbers pretty high. After all, they will need those extra doses of fake propaganda and blurred reality from State TV to anesthetize them into their cozy states of semi-consciousness.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Trump Whines (and Lies) About Imaginary Discrimination of Conservatives on Social Media

Posted by on August 18, 2018 at 11:34 am. 2 Comments :

Someone should make an official application to rename the Republican Party the Sniveling Victim Party. It seems that most of their time nowadays is spent griping about how terribly put upon they are by forces bent on destroying them. And no one exemplifies this spirit better than the party’s “Most Fabulous Whiner” (yes, he called himself that), Donald Trump.

Donald Trump

On Saturday morning’s regularly scheduled Twitter Tirade with Trump, the petulant president went on a tear over his insistence that social media is “discriminating against Republican/Conservative voices.” Never mind that he offered zero evidence of any such discrimination. In fact, all the evidence proves that this frequent complaint of carping rightists everywhere is utterly false. Nevertheless, Trump’s tweetstorm makes ludicrous allegations that were surely inspired by his Fox News viewing minutes before tweeting:


This is a totally baseless accusation that emanates from the deep recesses of paranoid minds. Trump is parroting the criticisms of wingnut icons like Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, and the irrepressible Demean & Sulk (aka Diamond & Silk).


Indeed, censorship is dangerous. Which is why it’s a feature of Trump’s White House where they have denied access to journalists and they refuse to release documents of critical importance to the public like his tax returns. Even his tiresome charges of “fake news” directed at CNN, MSNBC, and every other news outlet that isn’t sufficiently adoring, borders on censorship becaise its purpose is to deny an audience to those he disapproves of. As for Trump’s assertion that he doesn’t “ask that their sick behavior be removed,” that’s another lie:


Trump also banned a CNN reporter from an otherwise public event at the White House. Kaitlan Collins of CNN was told that she could not attend because she had the audacity to ask Trump some question earlier that day. It flies in the face of his latest comments about letting everybody participate:


This has a familiar ring to it. Trump is saying, once again, that there are “fine people” on all sides, just like he did when he defended neo-Nazis and white supremacists in Charlottesville. What he is likely responding to is the recent banning of his buddy with the “amazing reputation,” Alex Jones, from Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter. To be clear, that isn’t censorship because private companies have a right to monitor the content on their own platforms. And Jones wasn’t banned for his political views, but for inciting violence.

There is a certain irony about Trump posting his complaints about discrimination on social media, on social media. But he is just extending his campaign against media in general to new platforms. And as always, they are all aligned against him. What’s more, he knows about this because he obviously pays attention, particularly to television. Contrary to assertion that he doesn’t watch much TV, he is known to spend as much as eight hours a day doing so. And while much of that is spent hate-watching CNN and MSNBC, most of it is devoted to Fox News, Trump’s shadow cabinet and national security advisors.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

The Fox News Audience is 1% African-American, So No Wonder It’s Openly Racist

Posted by on August 9, 2018 at 8:42 pm. 1 Comments :

This week the flagrant white nationalist sentiments of Fox News were on full display. “The America we know and love doesn’t exist anymore,” primetime host Laura Ingraham said Wednesday night. “Massive demographic changes have been foisted on the American people, and they are changes that none of us ever voted for, and most of us don’t like.” Who she means by “us” is the minority of rancid bigots who think they own the country and can demand that its residents all look like them.

Fox News Black Viewer

The America the rest of us (the majority) know and love is one that values diversity and welcomes people of all nations, ethnicities, faiths and race. Every poll shows that most people regard immigration as a positive contribution to a stronger and greater nation.

On Fox News, however, there is a decidedly different approach to the composition of the American populace. In addition to Ingraham, they have Tucker Carlson, with his own primetime slot, delivering a blatant message of white nationalism every night of the week. A large percentage of his program is consumed with stories about how white people are the real victims of prejudice. According to Carlson, white Americans suffer an unbearable burden due to the curse of their lightly pigmented skin. Poor babies. And it’s no coincidence that Donald Trump has adopted this same white nationalist theme as a primary component of his presidency.

Tom Kludt and Brian Stelter of CNN addressed the hateful programming of Fox News in an article that sought to explore the network’s record on race. Early on they hit on the explanation for how Fox can get away with producing and airing such programming:

“The Fox News audience is almost 100% white, according to Nielsen. And on the channel’s highest-rated shows, the politics of white anxiety play out practically every day, as hosts and guests warn about the impacts of immigration and minimize or mock the perspectives of people of color.”

That’s right. With an audience that is so blindingly white, Fox literally has no incentive to care about the welfare of people of color. They won’t suffer in the ratings for having offended anyone with their constant flow of bigotry. So why should they bother to temper their commentaries for an audience that is tuned in elsewhere (mostly MSNBC). Stelter elaborated on Fox’s audience composition in a tweet:

But it’s even worse than that. Fox doesn’t just have to appeal to overwhelmingly white viewers. They have to appeal to white viewers who aren’t offended by racism. Many Anglo-Americans are decent folks who embrace the whole of humanity. They wouldn’t stand for a network that insults and demeans anyone. So Fox’s viewers have to appreciate the naked prejudice that is so integral to Fox News. In other words, the Fox News audience is affirmatively pro-hate.

Appealing to that demographic is the only way the network can survive. And the absence of African-Americans, Latinos, and other people of color, as well as white folks who value tolerance and inclusion, explains how Fox gets away with it. That presents a problem for fighting back against this racist network. We can hardly pledge to boycott a channel that we already don’t watch. But we can refuse to patronize their advertisers and to let them know that. And we can make sure that the world knows that any business that advertises on Fox News is supporting hatred and intolerance.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

UPDATE: On Thursday night’s episode of The Ingraham Angle, Laura Ingraham gave a weak walkback of her open embrace of white nationalism on Wednesday. She even tried to brush off the praise she received from former KKK Grand Dragon, David Duke. However, when you draw praise from someone like that, you have to admit that you said something wrong. She wouldn’t admit it or apologize, and therein lies the disingenuousness of her response.

Crazed Right-Wing Shill Provides the Perfect Example of Why MSNBC Shouldn’t Book These Crackpots

Posted by on August 8, 2018 at 11:45 am. 3 Comments :

On Tuesday’s edition of The Beat with Ari Melber on MSNBC, Melber hosted what was supposed to be a discussion of racial division in the era of Donald Trump. That’s a timely topic that had the potential to be enlightening and productive. There’s just one problem. Melber made the mistake of inviting right-wing bomb-thrower Candace Owens on to take the conservative side of the debate.

Ari Melber, Candace Owens, MSNBC

Melber began the segment innocently enough with a summary of what he expected it to cover. He welcomed his guests, Owens and Prof. Michael Eric Dyson, with this introduction (hair-raising video below):

“President Trump again attacking prominent African-American. He’s just impugned the the intelligence of LeBron James and Don Lemon. Which echoes the way he singled out the intelligence of Congresswoman Maxine Waters or the academic credentials of Barack Obama.”

And it was all downhill from there. Melber begins the discussion by asking Owens if she thinks that Donald Trump is embracing racial division. Her answer was a long-winded filibuster that produced nothing but anger and hate and entirely evaded the topic. She began slowly, pretending to be responsive, but shortly diverted to an unrelated subject about the recent rash of gun violence in Chicago (about which she opposes any action on guns). And that rant somehow morphed into her own travails in public where she has been confronted by opponents. And finally she went off on an extended tirade wherein she exalted Trump’s (imaginary) achievements, whined about black conservatives being criticized, and asserted that Democrats have always been racist, ignoring the party realignment that took place in the 1950s and 1960s.

All of that occurred in a wild-eyed display of bluster where Owens refused to stop yammering, ignored Melber’s pleas to be civil and fair, and generally behaved like deranged mental patient who traded her meds for Snickers bars. But what needs to be recognized here is that this was not a spontaneous outburst. Owens came on the show planning to leap off the rails from start. That’s evident in her evasion of the questions which she was told in advance would define her appearance. And it’s evident in her obviously prepared raving and disrespect for civil discourse.

Considering what occurred in this segment, MSNBC, and other conscientious news networks, should realize that booking people like Owens is a futile endeavor. Their only purpose is to derail the conversation and insult the participants. And they should not be given a platform to do that. Not only is it a waste of time, it prevents the discussion of important issues that would be useful to the audience. Owens belongs on Fox News and Infowars where haranguing the left is central to their mission. But real news networks need to learn from this that booking these cretins is just giving them leeway to crap all over free speech.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

ON TRUST: Donald Trump Polls Way Less than CNN – and Every Other TV News Network

Posted by on July 31, 2018 at 3:17 pm. 1 Comments :

For someone who is obsessed with castigating the news media as “fake” and “enemies,” Donald Trump is sure suffering from an approval deficit by the American people. He tweets furiously at all hour of the day and night about how dishonest the press is, but all of that animus and bile has produced nothing in terms of respect from the public at large.

Donald Trump

A survey conducted for the Brand Keys Research Intelligencer rated the levels of trust for each of the major television news networks. The results placed the BBC at the top of the pile (with 90%) as the most trusted source. Fox News came in second (87%), followed by PBS (86%). It’s important to remember that this survey was conducted by surveying respondents who watched the rated network at least three times a week. So to some extent it was collecting the views of people who were regular viewers. That would explain the Fox number, whose viewers are devoted and worshipful cultists.

The placement of the rest of the broadcast and cable news networks ranged respectably from MSNBC (80%), CBS (72%), NBC (70%), ABC (69%), and CNN (69%). But the most interesting number in this survey was the one for Donald Trump. He managed to pull in a paltry twenty-nine percent who say that he is trustworthy. That’s less than a third of what the BBC did. Even more troubling from his perspective is that it’s less than half of what his arch nemesis CNN did. And when the numbers were broken down by political affiliation, Trump’s base of Republicans still only rated him at a measly thirty-five percent. Even lower, of course, were Independents (22%) and Democrats (14%).

So while Trump has spent the past two years relentlessly attacking the media in the most vicious terms, he has managed to achieve nothing but solid goose eggs in terms of respect or trust from the public. This survey affirms similar polls conducted in the past that found Trump trailing every news enterprise, TV or print, on the question of trust. And by wide margins.

It also affirms the results of a unique study published by The Economist this week that revealed that the media that Trump hates the most (New York Times, Washington Post, etc.) actually became stronger and more popular during the seventeen months since Trump was inaugurated. So despite his efforts to drag down any press operation that wasn’t unflinchingly adoring, he actually had the opposite effect of boosting their profiles with the public. What’s more, his reliance on, and promotion of, Fox News and Breitbart produced sharp downslopes for those flagrantly biased outfits. And if that’s what he means by “winning,” let’s have more of it.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.