CNN’s domestic ratings woes mask underlying strengths
CNN headquarters in Atlanta. CREDIT: Vino Wong/ajc.com
When he announced his departure from CNN last month, President Jim Walton said the Atlanta-based news network needed “new thinking” and a plan for change.
But can CNN remake itself?
The answer transcends one company’s bid for a fresh start. Rivaling Coca-Cola as a worldwide corporate symbol of Atlanta, the network founded by maverick Ted Turner employs thousands of metro residents, is a cornerstone in the city’s drive for a permanently vibrant downtown and has become a must-visit attraction for tourists from around the globe.
But questions about CNN’s health, as well as its influence, are growing louder. Interviews with two dozen industry experts and former and current staffers of the cable news pioneer paint a picture of an entrenched organization struggling to connect with viewers and deeply wedded to a domestic news format that hasn’t retained its popularity.
In some ways, those experts say, CNN has become a victim of its own success: Dominance in international news and digital platforms has insulated the network’s domestic operation from moving quickly to respond to shifting viewer expectations in the United States and reverse its plummeting TV ratings.
Jim Walton is stepping down from CNN as president at the end of the year. CREDIT: AP
“They make so much money off the brand’s global appeal that they have had an excuse not to focus on the value of its American television audience, which is changing and wants something else,” says Brad Siegel, who ran Turner Broadcasting’s entertainment division for about a decade until 2003 and is now vice chairman of Atlanta-based GMC network. “They forget that they’re television. People watch news on television and expect certain things. They want personalities they believe in, that are appealing.”
CNN is projected to bring in a hefty $600 million in profits this year, its eighth consecutive year of growth, investors learned in May from Jeff Bewkes, CEO of Time Warner, the network’s parent company. But Time Warner management is no longer downplaying CNN’s continuing ratings slide, which hurts advertising revenue and the network’s ability to demand increases in subscription fees from cable and satellite operators.
“Time Warner is cleaning house at CNN because corporate needs the cash and expects CNN to be a reliable profit center, not one that is circling the drain,” says Rich Hanley, journalism professor at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn.
Bewkes has publicly acknowledged the network needs a makeover. His comments came days after Walton announced he would be stepping down at year’s end, and weeks after CNN initially botched reporting the U.S. Supreme Court’s health care decision. (Fox News also briefly said the health care law had been overturned).
The CNN brand suffered another black eye earlier this month when one of its program hosts, Fareed Zakaria, was accused of plagiarism in a Time magazine column on gun control and was suspended by the network. (In a statement six days later, CNN said it lifted the suspension after a “rigorous” review.)
“The health care snafu I view as an aberration,” says Frank Sesno, who worked at CNN from 1984 to 2002. But that and Zakaria’s issues “certainly erode the brand when a narrative has been written that things are not going well,” adds Sesno, now director of George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs in the nation’s capital.
The internal debate at CNN for years, he says, has been quantity vs. quality: “You need to have at least one.” And Time Warner, Sesno says, isn’t happy with either. At the same time, CNN chief political correspondent Candy Crowley being named one of the moderators for the upcoming presidential debates “indicates that CNN is still recognized as a brand that brings quality judgment to the table.”
Measured just by U.S. television ratings, CNN appears to be in a free fall, hitting 20-year lows in recent months.
The average number of people watching CNN nationwide during prime time last month (489,000) was smaller than the population of Fresno, Calif. (494,665). It’s also about half of CNN’s peak audience in 2008, when the presidential election drew extra eyeballs. What’s more, once-upstart Fox News now draws about three and a half times the prime-time audience of CNN. (CNN still reaches more individual viewers in a given month than Fox, but Fox viewers spend far more time with the network.)
Even MSNBC — a distant third just a few years ago — regularly beats CNN. On a broader measure, CNN was the 37th most popular basic cable channel during the week of August 6, behind the likes of ID, NatGeo and Animal Planet. (Fox News ranked seventh; MSNBC, 23rd.)
Unlike MSNBC and Fox News, CNN has failed to find compelling personalities and programming. Fifteen years of revolving-door management has tinkered to no avail. From Aaron Brown to Eliot Spitzer to the current prime-time lineup featuring Piers Morgan and Anderson Cooper, not much has stuck.
A CNN spokeswoman said Morgan was picked last year to take over for Larry King because the former British newspaper editor had a “bigger, bolder personality,” while the network gave Cooper two hours in prime time because he is one of CNN’s most popular draws.
Mike Klein — a former vice president of news production who worked at CNN from 1984 to 1998 and is now editor at the Georgia Public Policy Foundation — says he even notices Fox News is the predominant network of choice in Atlanta restaurants and hotel lobbies.
“I ask the employees, without them knowing who I am, why they have Fox on instead of CNN. They say people who use the building want Fox: ‘We’d put CNN on if anybody asks for it. Nobody does.’
“And this is supposedly CNN’s hometown.”
Where CNN’s strong
Klein also seldom watches CNN anymore. But he loves CNN.com.
“It’s a terrific product. I can rely on their stuff. It’s wide ranging. I’m glad it’s available to me.”
Therein lies some of the irony.
Launched on a relative shoestring by Turner 32 years ago, CNN still has the largest news-gathering operation in the world. The network can be seen in more than 200 countries and has access to more than 1,000 resource-sharing affiliates. It has more news bureaus around the globe than MSNBC and Fox News combined.
Walton, stepping down at year’s end after a decade as CNN president, has overseen the network’s evolution into a global and digital powerhouse. CNN.com is the No. 2 news site on the Web — Yahoo! News is tops — and CNN is the top iPad app for news, according to Apple.
While other news operations have slashed staffs the last few years, CNN has been mostly shifting, not cutting, resources. Headcount has remained fairly steady at approximately 4,000 worldwide, with about half based in Atlanta, says a spokeswoman, who did not make executives available to interview for this story.
Siegel believes the company’s overall financial health “has held them back tremendously in being really aggressive about competing for television viewers.” CNN has always lived the mantra of “We are journalists. We are news,” he says.
‘A hunger for change’
Although several CNN employees say morale remains fundamentally sound, they also note staffers are acutely aware of the ratings slide and its deleterious effect on CNN’s reputation.
They grouse that producers lack as much experience as they used to. They find themselves carrying extra burdens now that CNN has dropped access to Associated Press stories, a big money-saving move. Some have noticed CNN increasingly relying on “talking head” analysts and commentators, and less on reported news stories.
“There’s a hunger for change,” says a CNN International employee who wouldn’t comment if his name was used.
“Everybody is aware of the low ratings and how that affects perceptions. It affects your ability to get access to people to interview. Do I go on Wolf Blitzer and his 300,000 viewers, or Bill O’Reilly’s 2 million or Al Sharpton’s 600,000? It puts us at a disadvantage.”
Also readily apparent inside CNN’s downtown Atlanta headquarters is the emphasis on international news, which extends back to the Turner days.
“Ted Turner, God bless him,”says Chuck Roberts, a CNN Headline News anchor from 1982 to 2010. “He pushed the envelope internationally when people thought that was a dumb idea.” Roberts is in China this month teaching media training for the Missouri School of Journalism.
An analysis by the Pew Research Center’s non-partisan Project for Excellence in Journalism showed CNN in 2011 devoted significantly more airtime to international events than its rivals. CNN’s biggest story in 2011 was the series of changes in the Middle East. That topic ranked third on Fox and MSNBC.
“The international side has taken over news-gathering,” said the CNN International insider. “You go the morning meeting, you might think you’re at the BBC.”
That emphasis may be a smart long-term play. The international division totals about 20 percent of CNN’s revenue and is growing rapidly.
But, in the short run, about half of CNN’s revenues still come from domestic cable and satellite subscription fees. Low ratings could threaten that cash cow as contracts come up for renewal with the likes of DirecTV or Comcast, as well as reduce income from advertising.
In comparison, the network’s digital division contributed only about 10 percent of CNN revenue in 2010, according to the most recent statistics released by Time Warner.
Lost in the middle
While CNN’s competitors at Fox and MSNBC have chosen to appeal to partisan audiences with a healthy lineup of opinionated talk shows, CNN has held fast to news programming that the network regards as middle of the road compared with Fox or MSNBC.
But many viewers still regard CNN as a liberal, left-leaning news operation and they’ve abandoned CNN for Fox.
In a conference call with analysts earlier this month, Time Warner’s Bewkes signaled that CNN’s news format isn’t likely to change. CNN will continue to provide “objective, comprehensive, non-partisan coverage really covering all of the partisan views,” Bewkes said. Indeed, the network is touting its “nonstop, unbiased” coverage of the upcoming political conventions, beginning Monday with the Republicans in Tampa.
“As the only cable news channel that has not picked sides in this election, CNN has a unique lens with which to cover these conventions,” said Sam Feist, CNN Washington bureau chief and senior vice president.
Many industry observers are glad network management isn’t changing what they see as CNN playing it straight with the news, rather than reporting from a left- or right-leaning perspective. It’s a debate, though, that Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Pew journalism project, thinks is misframed.
“There is an appetite for news that presents both sides equally,” Rosenstiel says. “Look at network morning news and evening news. They outdraw all the cable networks.
“The question is: ‘Is political talk shows in prime time the only kind of appointment programming that will work on cable news?” he says, referring to shows people habitually watch, no matter what’s happening in the news.
TV and breaking news
From its early days, CNN has thrived on reporting big breaking news. Think the 1986 Challenger explosion. 1989’s Tiananmen Square uprising. The first Gulf War in 1991. And, 10 years later, 9/11.
And CNN still aggressively pours resources into major news events, whether it’s the so-called Arab Spring launched in 2010, this year’s U.S. presidential campaign or the recent Sikh temple shootings in Wisconsin.
But not all news is big — or breaking.
Randy Harber retired from CNN in March after nearly 32 years as an editor. He recalls editing the first script of the very first show in 1980. One of CNN’s chronic problems, he notes, has been how to get people to watch on days when no major news is occurring.
“CNN has many talented reporters out in the field but I don’t think they’re given the direction to go and cover things in the kind of depth they could,” Harber says. “People know the breaking news. Help them understand how it affects their lives.”
And TV is no longer the obvious place to go when a major story occurs.
“The arrival of mobile is a threat to the one thing that CNN domestic television has always done well: gather an audience when breaking news happens,” says Rosenstiel.
Of 500 people polled by market research firm CJ&N, 44 percent found out about last month’s Aurora, Colo., movie theater shootings from TV. But of those 18 to 24, only 21 percent received the news via television.
Rosenstiel throws out another pressing question: “Can CNN do the one thing that eludes it: create TV shows, rather than rely on breaking news?”
Don’t say ‘reality TV’
Anthony Bourdain is joining CNN next year with a new show, leaving the Travel Channel. CREDIT: AP
Since its early days, CNN has had a go-it-alone style in terms of creating original content. But in May, CNN announced it was picking up a weekend show starring Anthony Bourdain, the well-known chef and international traveler who is leaving the Travel Channel and his Emmy-winning program “No Reservations.” On Thursday, CNN said it will add a show hosted by documentarian Morgan Spurlock, best known for his Oscar-nominated 2004 film “Super Size Me.” His unscripted show for CNN will be produced by an outside production company, not network employees.
Mark Whitaker, CNN worldwide executive VP and managing editor, said at the time that CNN is starting to fish in the same waters as cable channels History Channel and NatGeo, chumming for more shows like Bourdain’s, but only for weekend audiences. “We’re only going to buy the things we think will fit us and what we stand for. We’ve hired executives that specialize in this space.”
This doesn’t mean CNN will start airing its equivalent of “Ice Road Truckers,” Whitaker said. “It will not replace our in-house model. We can do both.”
The New York Post recently reported that CNN is considering a late-night talk show, along the lines of “The View,” a daytime staple for ABC. (CNN briefly aired a weekend late-night show, hosted by comic D.L. Hughley, in 2008 and 2009.)
A CNN spokeswoman declined to comment on the report but released a statement: ”We routinely pursue new talent and programming concepts within the news category.” She also noted CNN doesn’t use the label “reality TV,” instead preferring the term “non-fiction original series.”
But others wonder if CNN’s domestic ratings really matter that much in the long run, whatever programming route it takes. Andrew Tyndall, who has monitored TV news for 20 years, recently wrote a Hollywood Reporter column — “How CNN Can Benefit From Being Bland” — saying the network’s future lies with CNN.com and its robust video-on-demand capabilities.
CNN.com, Tyndall writes, “is proving to be cutting-edge, remaking video news online as thoroughly as it remade broadcast TV news into 24-hour cable three decades ago…”
“In that context, global ubiquity is a greater asset than domestic popularity.”
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By Rodney Ho, Radio & TV Talk
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256 comments Add your comment
TPM
August 25th, 2012
9:46 pm
Getting rid of Wolf Blitzer would be a step in the right direction
To the Real Fan
August 25th, 2012
9:48 pm
You have proven you are an idiot. You are the problem with this country. You think the left wing extremists have it right all the time. Get a clue pal, neither side is right all the time. You hate the competition that calls you out but you fail to realize that both sides need to exisit. If you can’t defend your point, you don’t have one. Just saying someone who disagrees with you is wrong all the time proves you don’t have much of an argument.
Default Settings 2.0
August 25th, 2012
9:49 pm
Why does CNN have all those British people on? We kicked their butt in WWII and now they are back trying to take our poppy fields.
TTH
August 25th, 2012
9:56 pm
Fox has the corner on young & beautiful women. CNN should learn that a shorter skirt on an attractive female will certainly help.
Blazerdawg
August 25th, 2012
9:57 pm
Move Piers Morgan to 10P (or just do away with the interviews of 70’s entertainers and British royalty watchers)
Bring in Megyn Kelley from Fox (gag) to co-host w Anderson Cooper 8P-10P (two hosts would be distinctive)
Don Lemon earlier and more often
Bring back Daryn Kagan
Like Wayne said – rooting for CNN, proud of CNN, Fox is just too dumb
dre
August 25th, 2012
9:57 pm
It’s all about the people and CNN has lightweights including the guy with the nasty cellphone doing 360s with other men.
Roadrunner
August 25th, 2012
10:00 pm
I hope CNN stays just the way it is. More & more Americans have learned if you want the truth watch Fox News, If you want only those stories that support the opinions of the left watch CNN or MSNBC, or CBS, or ABC or NBC …… lots of shows give you the view from the left, but even if you consider yourself liberal you need to watch something else from time to time just to find out about all the things happening in the world that don’t reinforce your views & perceptions. Keep it up CNN, stay left & stay proud!! Don’t make me have to choose between two actual news channels!
A true American Soldier
August 25th, 2012
10:28 pm
I can not believe that my fellow battle buddies and I fought, while some died, for some ungreatful racist americans.Inside the U.S.Military we do not see white or black. We only see the colors on the U.S. Flag. I am caucasion male,who do not despise our current Commander in Chief.There is One thing I would like to rely to my race, the sooner you come to the realation that SINGLE WOMEN,COLLEGE EDUCATED WHITE MALE,LATINO,SOME ELDER AMERICANS and AFRICAN AMERICAN loves this President.Now after saying that where in the world are you guys are going to get the votes to vote him out of offices. Here’s some more bad news majority of the current generation soldiers; who have served from 2001 and present supports The Commander-IN-Chief. Again I want to reiterate where in hell are the republican party going to get the votes it needs. I pray and hope that the republican party do not try and steal this election. Because there is not enough soldiers in the whole U.S. military to stop a riot from happen. Some of the soldier probably would be leading the protest. I hope my race comes to the realization, that we have to share the reign of power or we going to be left behind.
Centrist
August 25th, 2012
10:30 pm
The reason “many viewers still regard CNN as a liberal, left-leaning news operation and they’ve abandoned CNN for Fox” is because it is well to the left with biased reporting. That bias, like most of the main stream media, is more important to management than the business aspect – no way they will move to the center any more than the AJC will. Preaching the liberal doctrine is what our schools of journalism and media owners view as most important; and they train, filter, and hire reporters and editors to tow the company line. Fox, The Wall Street Journal, and talk radio are safe from having their audiences pilfered via centering of the rest of the news media or Hollywood.
LoFlyer
August 25th, 2012
10:36 pm
I notice the story make no mention of CNN’s deal with Saddam and Iraq to deliberately lie for them to maintain a media presence in Iraq. That’s when I gave up on CNN. When a news orginization admits it lies they have lost all credibility with their consumers. I wish CNN the best but they made deliberate decisions that led to their current issues.
Billy
August 25th, 2012
10:42 pm
People are tired of watching biased news. That’s why Fox does so good. They’re not telling all the truth, either, trying to suck up to the liberal establishment for credibility one day in the distant future, but they will never get it. Lying to people is what the liberal media is all about. Watched NBC this AM looking for coverage of the Hurricane, and they were trying to exploit Romney’’s joke about being born in Michigan. Who cares about where PBO was born at this point? Or about Akin, except those who want to change the debate away from the economy, jobs, and the debt, the three most important issues, far and away, from the nonsense the liberal media incessantly keeps trying to distrract and deceive the public with? Those days are over! We want the truth and we’re not going to be stampeded into any more ultra leftist mistakes like 2008 ever again. Onward and upward…
Mark
August 25th, 2012
10:44 pm
One of the lessons I learned from being in Baghdad for two years, was that none of the news channels tell the story “accurately.” They all have their spins and slants based on their philosophy. But aside from that, CNN could also be counted on to mistate the facts as much as needed to support their bias. It became a joke to see how much CNN could stretch the truth to make their liberal bias more pronounced. I grew up on CNN and HNL and watched it religiously, but haven’t regularly turned my TV to it in years. I rely on CNN.com very much – the slant does not seem to be there in the written word. But getting past the obvious liberal bias of the CNN ‘heads’ is too much for me.
Ole Barn
August 25th, 2012
10:46 pm
CNN started going down hill account of Solidad Obrien, Black in America, Red in America, Brown in America, on and on. CNN management, yeah, good do it, over and over. You can’t cram stuff down peoples throats. CNN management is Lazy. Pure and Simple. “Yeah, run it! Yeah run it! Rubber Stamp it, I got to run to lunch”. They should all be fired and bring Ted Turner Back to run it! Yeah, run it!
Newnan
August 25th, 2012
10:47 pm
They can call themselves middle of the road and objective all they want but it is a grossly liberal network and people are tired of their bias. A pitiful excuse for news
Hank
August 25th, 2012
10:57 pm
CNN anchors lack gravitas. They seem to be casual in their delivery and too often focused on unimportant stories. The international reporters are much better. They report important stories, know the subject, and their reporting is serious and professional. Do away with the “Good Morning …..” type anchors, soft stories, and talking heads. Do away with the gadgets. No one cares. CNN has also become a FOX follower. After FOX started describing its broadcast as “Fair and Balanced,” CNN felt it needed to have a slogan. News by its nature is supposed to be unbiased. Why use any tagline? FOX began using the term Democrat when Democratic was appropriate. Shortly thereafter some CNN anchors began doing the same. FOX would also report some fringe story then state it wasn’t being reported by the “mainstream media.” Once again, CNN would follow FOX and start reporting the unimportant fringe story. Surely, those of you at CNN can decide what is important enough to report in your limited time.
Kevin
August 25th, 2012
11:18 pm
“CNN has held fast to news programming that the network regards as middle of the road compared with Fox or MSNBC.”
This one sentence summarizes the entire issue: CNN sees themselves as middle of the road?
The execs must live in another world. Continue to ignore reality, and watch your ratings fall more.
Good riddance.
BehindEnemyLines
August 25th, 2012
11:26 pm
And that “middle of the road” approach includes bringing on a noted wing-nut like Spurlock and a frequently flaming liberal (albeit one that might be fun to have a drink or twelve with if you could avoid any contentious topic) like Bourdain.
Yeah, right. CNN is middle of the road in the same way as Dan Rather insisted he was mainstream.
Centrist
August 25th, 2012
11:32 pm
Eye opening how this liberal website has so many posters noting how left biased CNN (and to be fair, also ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, the AP, Reuters, big city newspapers, USA Today, and Hollywood) are.
“Middle of the road” to the liberal media is in the vicinity of socialism – between capitalism and communism.
WRT
August 25th, 2012
11:34 pm
CNN was once the king of the news channels, however in my opinion, CNN is now little more than a liberal news outlet. I no longer tune in to their network or go to their website. It’d suit me fine if they sank like the Titanic, because I’ve heard all the liberal reporting I care to hear from them.
PrezObozo
August 25th, 2012
11:40 pm
CNN used to be great then it started leaning toward promoting liberalism. Liberalism is a mental disorder!
globeflyer
August 26th, 2012
12:02 am
Saying CNN is middle-of-the-road is laughable. They have evolved into an “MSNBC wanna-be” with prettier graphics. What to do with no major news occurring??? Do what you’ve been doing, just keep makin’ $4it up! I have listened to the likes of Left apologists’, Soledad O’Brien and Toure’ and find them as racist as anyone on television. I just hope I’m watching the day they “turn out the lights”!
Teacher Reader
August 26th, 2012
12:14 am
I remember my first taste of CNN in 19901991 during the first Gulf War. My college roommates and I would be peeled to CNN as the rockets/bombs/bullets flew through Baghdad. I can still recall the reporters and their reports. At the time, I felt that CNN was a place I could go to get the news, which should be just the facts and nothing more.
I no longer listen to CNN, because there is too much BS and feelings. News isn’t about feelings, it’s about getting the facts to the audience. Focusing on the facts and getting the libs off their high horse spewing their nonsense would be a good start. I don’t want to hear conservative nonsense either, I just want to hear the facts pure and simple, I want difficult questions asked and facts checked. I want people questioned and the facts obtained. I want people who lie have their feet held to the fire. I want reporters who don’t give to either party and don’t show their affiliations – this goes for those running the company as well. How can one be without bias, if they are donating to the political parties?
Splavistic
August 26th, 2012
12:29 am
Don’t listen to the right-wing freaks. If it isn’t (ain’t) hate-filled ‘opinion’ (i.e. hannity, greta, o’reilly) then they don’t want it. The conservatives don’t want ‘news’, they want opinion that skews to their beliefs. This isn’t news. CNN needs stay news oriented and have better talent. It’s all about who you trust. Back when news was only on the broadcast nets, we trusted and listened to Cronkite, Brokaw, Jennings, Rather, et al. CNN has Anderson and Soledad, they’re good, but they need more and better.
Freddieb
August 26th, 2012
12:37 am
Fox News Reports and Fox News Infotainment shows always, I repeat always have the liberal or a bonafide Democrat or operative on to give their views and opinions. MSNBC and CNN? Crickets.
The fact that Fox outnumbers CNN and MSNBC combined simply shows that the left is too busy watching Jersey Shore or Real Housewives. Admit it. Mr. Real Fan obviously doesn’t watch Fox because he would know Fox’s model is successful not because it’s right wing, it’s sccessful because educated viewers get both sides of every issue. We prefer hearing both sides at the same time. And oh, most Fox viewers, also watch MSNBC and CNN just stay up on how badly biased their domestic reporting is.
LoFlyer
August 26th, 2012
12:39 am
Well said teacher-reader!
Splavistic. I suggest reread your words and think about what you wrote and think about the liberal dogma of tolorence for all.
Except anyone that disagrees with you.
Best reagards,
Lo
Pot Belly
August 26th, 2012
12:45 am
The new CNN chief needs to gather all the staff together and say,”Start reporting the news,like we did 30 years ago, and keep your opinions to yourself.” Ratings would rise like they brought Brenda Lee Johnson back from the dead !!
missnadine
August 26th, 2012
1:21 am
I stopped watching when they brought on Piers Morgan. That guy has been a total sleezebag for years. He was a big part of the British press problem, and would have done anything for a story, legal or illegal. They should have put on a US resident on that show. The US does not need any more British windbags, and especially not a guy with really bad morals. It is almost as if they did no backgroud check on him.
Ed
August 26th, 2012
1:27 am
What is really sad is whereever you go and they have a news station on the tv in the bar or restaurant, it isn’t CNN anymore. It’s Fox News. The bleed started with the 1st gulf war, when the talking heads at CNN simply parioted what Sadam Hussein wanted. At first they covered it up, then when the story came out, they said they had to do it or not get th pictures. Then when most of the reporters came out of Iraqi. they would not be debreifed by our military. They were (above the fray) or so they thought of themselves. Many of us common citizens thought that position was a little treasonist.
CNN became the Clinton apology network and just could not give us the facts on Bill Clinton and his personal behavior. If they had, he probably would not have been elected president. But they had covered Gary Hart’s extramarital affair before the 1988 elections and blew up a true liberals quest for the white house. Remember Gary Hart was being fawned over by the press as the next JFK.
And the bleeding just kept happening. Every year another 10,000 or so households turned them off.
FoxNews came along, 1996, with a different edge to the news. Every year they had those 10,000 households turn them on. CNN became just another ABC, CBS, NBC only they told the same half truths 24 hours a day. They did not tell us the truth about Clinton. They went with all the trailer trash stories and savaged anyone who brought up Clinton’s womenizing. Then came the dress and CNN still could not cover it.
They covered up Al Gore’s hipocracy about global warming, while the guy was making million on it. But cover George Bush’s dental records like it was a crime in 2004. They never mentioned Kerry lying about the troops in Vietnam before congress.
They covered for Edward’s and his affair (like all the liberal networks – again remember what happened to Gary Hart) and were late to the party when the tabloid media got the story.
And now the cover for Obama on a minute by minute basis. Had they told us the truth about his lack of any experience, achievements, legislative record, work ethic, …. anything he probably would not have been nominated much less elected.
The list goes on & on. Many of us out here in flyover country have memories. We remember all the times CNN and most of the press has fed us crap sandwiches. We want the news and olny the news. We don’t care about your opinion. If we want opinions we will watch opinion shows. We understand fairness. We know when CNN stacks the deck. We don’t like it and we ultimately will not watch it.
Look at all the liberal rags out there. How are the all doing? Newsweek is gone. The NY Times is next. Flyover country has made their “opinion” known by changing the channel or dropping the subscription. Fox News is the newest on the block. They have a differnt credo, outlook, and yes “opinion”. Maybe CNN and the other liberal outlets should travel through flyover country and find out what is really been going on for the last 20 years.
You would be amazed – we can read, write, go to school and take care of ourselves. We are not the stupid ones…..
LOOK IN THE MIRROR!!!!!
Oh yeah one more thing – Rodney Ho – If you think CNN is down the middle you must be looking at it thru rose colored glasses. Oh thet’s right you work for the AJC. Also know as the Urinal & Constipation. Get out and look around, breath some air. Find the news & report it. Don’t give us a crap sandwich!!!
David
August 26th, 2012
2:09 am
Anybody that doesn’t see that CNN spins everything they report hard left has their heads buried in the sand. Get serious.
nCNhonky tonk man
August 26th, 2012
2:22 am
CNN is so slanted in their coverage.Its funny they say their neutral,but have doo doo brainiac trying to criticize our President.David Gergen,Wolf Blitzer.Come on get real,u want bad rating,fire these clowns.Don Lemon is not sour,but sweet people.Please hire Micheal Moore if u want the stinking truth .
Ty
August 26th, 2012
2:45 am
I am astound by the number of morons who always make every story on this site about politics and race. Thank God, i travel out of this city often.
Angela
August 26th, 2012
4:27 am
Television, even the news, is a business–period. Regarding CNN being “liberal” is only the new thought now that FOX is clearly right-wing in terms of it’s viewpoint. In fact, the word “liberal” was never used to describe CNN until FOX came along. While FOX is leading in ratings, it does so with personalities who are “loud, abrasive and extreme in their viewpoints. Even if you don’t agree, their “occassional” gaffs (often timed right along TV sweeps) make for good television, hence the ratings. The CEO of FOX once described the FOX NEWS network as ENTERTAINMENT in an effort to expain the verbal “slips” of the personalities. Those who complain about CNN saying they want the “facts” without the spin shouldn’t be watching FOX News. If you are, your point is dead in the water. However, CNN must go back to its roots of good, honest, news reporting with some real conversation and commentary in a way that DOES entertain us, invoke intelligent conversation (unlike much of the racist, sexist, politically divided garbage in this thread) and keep us informed.
fearless iranian man from hell
August 26th, 2012
4:38 am
Get rid of the Liberal Jihadist Soledad O’Brien and on the sister station..HLN..give Robin Meade some sort of brain or at least teach her basic rudiment of thought. I wish I didn’t have to go to al jazeera to get updates on the war in syria. CNN and Fox update when Obama’s lips get more purple and when Romney farts money.
Mike
August 26th, 2012
5:28 am
Angela is right. It’s absurd that people who watch Fox News are complaining about CNN’s lack of objectivity.
Grits
August 26th, 2012
6:32 am
Fareed Zakaria ruined Newsweek and he can destroy CNN. He tels it likes he wants to hear it. Leftist, liberal wingnut.
William R. Hill
August 26th, 2012
6:32 am
Real objective, factual, accurate balanced reporting is hard to find these days. The 24-hour “news” cycle has replaced it with endless attention to opinions, personalities and programming designed to fill time and hopefully attract enough viewers to facilitate advertising sales. Not to mention perpetual re-runs of “news” that is no longer new. When I see the same lead story at 6 pm that I saw at 6 am, I am astounded that nothing else of importance happened that day – or is it hide-bound practices and lazy reporting?
ragnar danneskjold
August 26th, 2012
6:50 am
So long as CNN insists that “global warming” is a mainstream issue, CNN will never recover.
Beretverde
August 26th, 2012
6:58 am
You mean CNN… the company that showed the dead naked US soldier being dragged through the streets of Mogadishu, as his wife in Fayetteville N.C. watched? No pixilation whatsover of the body… RATINGS! CNN/Time’s Operation Tailwind (under Rick Kaplan “don’t use the word scandal with Pres. Clinton”) claiming the Special Forces used nerve agents on a mission during the Vietnam War (a COMPLETE lie). They paid millions to the fired “journalists” and Kaplan moves on. Anderson Cooper showing the “snuff” film) of a U.S. soldier getting shot by a sniper (Al-Jazeera). Great propaganda for the enemy?
Ratings no matter what?
You don”t have to tell me about CNN. They pimp our military for ratings and bucks. I haven’t watched since Cooper’s piece nor will I ever. I am sick that I have to even see them at Hartsfield.
Their lack of integrity (Eason Jordan US troops targeting-killing journalists) has worn thin, and they are going down the tubes? Good damn riddance!
Leonard
August 26th, 2012
7:14 am
I want TJ!!!
Harvey D. Pooka
August 26th, 2012
7:24 am
What underlying strengths? They have no underlying strengths…. when they decided to go to el cheapo “ntertainmtne” programming and got away from their roots, they lost all credibility.
Real Mike
August 26th, 2012
8:09 am
ok CNN execs, you have a couple hundred comments here to read and digest. It’s pretty obvious from this sampling what needs to be looked at. Let’s see if you have the guts to look at yourself and change a few things. Good luck. I for one, would love to see you succeed.
dreammaker
August 26th, 2012
8:29 am
i,m a die hard cnn fan..dont want news influenced..like fox news which i have blocked out of my telivisions..FOX NEWS IS DANGEROUS AND TOXIC TO AMERICA..WITH THIER HATEFILLED THINKING
Richard Bagge
August 26th, 2012
8:31 am
Only in America… the number one answer to what politicians do is “lie.” They lie. That is what politicians do. We all know that. However, when CNN challenges politicians, as Soledad O’Brien does, it’s evidence that she and the network are “liberal” or “left-leaning.” No, just because Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly at Fox treat their Republican guests like honored heads of state, that doesn’t make them “balanced.” Politicians of whatever stripe should be grilled and challenged by every journalist and broadcaster. If CNN wishes to rebrand itself, it should take a cue from the BBC’s Jeremy Paxman and mercilessly interrogate anybody who desires the public trust. Let Fox be right-wing and MSNBC left, and make CNN TOUGH. O’Brien is one of the very, very small minority of TV journalists who actually gets it!
Big Al
August 26th, 2012
8:37 am
CNN needs to broadcast just the news without trying to put their spin on it. That is what they did initially and were super successful. Go back to what made you.
If you think CNN has problems, try HNN. Especially in the early morning. It is a joke for a news show with a lead broadcaster more interested in trying to promote a nonexistant music career than report news.
DHD
August 26th, 2012
8:44 am
The bottom line is that besides FOX, all of the networks are left leaning. This nation is a center-right nation. All you have to do is survey the political leanings of the people that work at thee networks to see why they report the way they do. As long as they report leaning left and the country leans right, they will lose viewers. It has always amazed me that FOX gets a bad rap for leaning to the right when they are the only ones that do. They help bring the balance back towards the center. The numbers prove it.
John Ellison
August 26th, 2012
8:54 am
The country is sinking in a sea of red ink, public education is failing miserably, the economy is in dire straits, our military has unneeded bases around the world that we can’t afford, and the major news organizations are wasting our time with stories about abortion, gay rights, birth certificates, etc.
LG
August 26th, 2012
9:06 am
MSNBC is the Fox News for Democrats; CNN seems to be the most even of the three stations.
It all but turned my stomach when I went to my dentist’s office, and also had an MRI at a hospital, and each waiting area had Fox News Channel on. Annoying. Who wants to sit and hear hate speech while we wait?
CNN is the most balanced….although some of the higher ups in the medical unit aren’t always nice (trust me, I know).
Tony Dee
August 26th, 2012
9:13 am
The CNN brand has been destroyed. Time to stop lying to the american people ! What a dirty shame.
@eidsonb
August 26th, 2012
9:18 am
Now there is a voice of moderation…Anthony Bourdain…not. Fox’s opinion shows are most assuredly right leaning HOWEVER they always include a left leaning POV and their news is objective. CNN not so much as there is always a leftward tilt to it.
Whirled Peas
August 26th, 2012
9:22 am
This is the network built by Mr. and Mrs. Jane Fonda. It is rotten to the core with leftist thought. Time to turn out the lights.