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http://www.newsweek.com/fox-news-pounded-ratings-truth-mounts-surprising-comeback-614170Fox News Pounded in Ratings As Truth Mounts Surprising Comeback
By Alexander Nazaryan On 5/23/17 at 1:30 PM
Opinion
Say what you will about state propaganda, but at least it gets good ratings. Pravda never had to worry about circulation numbers at the height of Soviet rule; Radio Havana Cuba, started by Fidel Castro, has fared better than the global socialist revolution it was supposed to broadcast. You can safely bet Irans semi-official Fars News Agency doesnt have to worry about a newsroom strategy for the digital age. Its a perfect arrangement, as long as journalistic scruples dont get in the way.
But it hasnt played that way lately at Fox News, the privately owned conservative network that has shaped President Donald Trumps views as much as it has trumpeted them. The Rupert Murdoch-owned channel has been his ideological crucible, the fervid unconscious where his darkest fantasies about the world grow (walls, wiretaps, et al.). In true propagandistic fashion, hardly anyone on Fox dares disagree with the president. If facts intrude on Trumps greatness-restoring project, Fox News simply ignores them. The red masters of the Kremlin never had such unthinking loyalty.
That fealty, however, is no longer paying off as it once did for the GOPs brutally effective mouthpiece. Fox News has beento use a Trumpisma complete disaster in the past several weeks, as its own fortunes start to resemble those of the president. Which areto use another Trumpismvery bad.
Fox Digs a Hole was the headline in CNNs Reliable Sources newsletter on Monday night. The item, by media reporter Dylan Byers, offered a bleak snapshot: For the first time in 17 years, Fox spent an entire week in third place in prime time in the all-important 25-to-54 year-old demographic. The last time Fox found itself in that ditch, Bill Clinton was president of the United States, Gladiator was in theaters, and Jesse Watters was in college.
Byers notes that MSNBCs prime time coverage, led by Rachel Maddow, now ranks first, while CNN leads in the daytime, when its most respected anchor, Jake Tapper, helms The Lead. In the Trumpian universe, MSNBC and CNN are purveyors of fake news, which is to say unflattering coverage of the current administration. But most Americans simply trust Maddow and Tapper far more than they trust Sean Hannity and Steve Doocy. Maddow may have her biasesand she can be off-puttingly grating, just like her right-wing counterpartsbut she doesnt tell cynical lies meant to fool Americans hungry for insight into the current political maelstrom.
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Gothmog
(145,965 posts)kentuck
(111,111 posts)Their "alternative facts" reporting, disguised as "fair and balanced", have attacked the truth for many years and have divided this nation in a very unhealthy way.
kstewart33
(6,551 posts)I am so tired of hearing men in the media criticize Rachel Maddow's mannerisms and delivery. Sexism abounds.
She is a woman. She is a gay woman. And she currently has the top-rated show on cable news.
Deal with it guys. Don't worry. Her presence won't shrink the size of your you-know-what.
myrna minx
(22,772 posts)self-inflicted downfall sink Murdoch's acquisition of Sky News in the UK.
LAS14
(13,792 posts)Binkie The Clown
(7,911 posts)It's the drama of an impending impeachment. That's what's driving ratings, and Fox is losing only because they haven't jumped on the impeach bandwagon. Yet.
Networks go where the money is, and the money is where the ratings are, and the ratings are driven by melodrama and great heaping gobs of "sturm und drang". The news has to compete with Game of Thrones and Survivor, and a rousing good mix of treason, scandal, and courtroom drama is just the ticket. Just as they were all in for electing Trump (high melodrama) now they're all in for impeaching him. (more high drama).
babylonsister
(171,111 posts)disillusioned73
(2,872 posts)truth has little to do with ratings - If that was the case Faux would have been the arbiter of truth for how long??
The corporate media don't give 2 shits about truth..
procon
(15,805 posts)Fox is in trouble when their Fake News is outed in a national news magazine!