Odds are you’ve been watching more news than usual over the past several months in order to follow the daily drama and suspense involved in the unfolding of this momentous campaign. You’re not alone. An article in today’s New York Times discusses how this riveting primary season has been a major boon to CNN.
Whether watching one of the debates saved to my DVR, checking in on Wolf Blitzer in the Situation Room, being mesmerized by John King’s nimble fingers manipulating the touch screen map of voting results, gazing into Anderson Cooper’s piercing blue eyes, or perusing CNN.com for election updates at work, I must confess that I have spent as much time with CNN lately as I have with many of my close friends.
Highlights from the NYT article include background about CNN’s trajectory over the past few years, including key decisions about editorial direction and programming; details about the management style of the president of the CNN news group, Jim Walton; and the status of the bitter competition between CNN and its main rival, Fox News. A spokeswoman for Fox News even attacked Walton’s reputation for keeping a low-profile by saying: “When the debates are over and CNN slides back down to MSNBC’s level, we assume Jim will return to the comfort of Time Warner’s witness protection program.” Ouch!
Whether watching one of the debates saved to my DVR, checking in on Wolf Blitzer in the Situation Room, being mesmerized by John King’s nimble fingers manipulating the touch screen map of voting results, gazing into Anderson Cooper’s piercing blue eyes, or perusing CNN.com for election updates at work, I must confess that I have spent as much time with CNN lately as I have with many of my close friends.
Highlights from the NYT article include background about CNN’s trajectory over the past few years, including key decisions about editorial direction and programming; details about the management style of the president of the CNN news group, Jim Walton; and the status of the bitter competition between CNN and its main rival, Fox News. A spokeswoman for Fox News even attacked Walton’s reputation for keeping a low-profile by saying: “When the debates are over and CNN slides back down to MSNBC’s level, we assume Jim will return to the comfort of Time Warner’s witness protection program.” Ouch!
1 comment:
Very interesting! I wonder how they are explaining this in the news business. Did CNN become more like Fox to attract their viewers? Did viewers turn away from Fox "news"? In either case (the article only touches briefly on this), the end of the article mentions that it's not like Fox is in decline:
" .... Bill O’Reilly averaged 2.7 million viewers in February and is the most-watched anchor on cable news, according to Nielsen...."
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