Bozell on 'Morning Joe': For Networks, Liberal Ideology Trumps Bottom Line

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L. Brent Bozell, founder of Media Research Center, NB's parent, made an appearance on today's "Morning Joe." Brent is the author, with MRC/NB's Tim Graham, of the recently-released "Whitewash: What the Media Won't Tell you About Hillary Clinton, But Conservatives Will."

Look for comprehensive coverage of Brent's appearance from my colleagues at MRC and NB during the day. But for present purposes, let's focus on one point Brent made that speaks volumes about the depth of the MSM's partisanship -- that for broadcast networks, promoting liberal ideology trumps even the bottom line.

Video (8:12): Real (6.04 MB) or Windows (5.02 MB), plus MP3 audio (3.75 MB).

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JOE SCARBOROUGH: Don't you think at this point, though, that what ABC, CBS and NBC want more than anything is just -- more viewers. And it makes sense to have a horse race. So don't you think that Hillary Clinton -- who's been pummelled over the last week or two -- don't you think she's going to have a rougher ride just like Rudy Giuliani, because these news organizations want Barack Obama, and Mitt Romney, and others to give us a horse race?

L. BRENT BOZELL: You would think that, but it's not the case. Ideology trumps the marketplace with these networks, unfortunately. They've been bleeding audiences since 1994. They've lost 50% of their audiences, and yet they continue the same way they've been going. Why is it that people are leaving? Because you're getting one side of the story, they're not getting two sides of the story, and they're going to alternative sources of information. They're going to talk radio, they're going to cable, they're going to the internet. They're going anywhere but these networks because they've given up on trying to get a fair story out of them.

The graph displayed here is from the Project for Excellence in Media Journalism's State of the News Media 2006. It makes Brent's point dramatically, showing the decline of combined evening news viewership of all networks from November 1980 to November 2005.

But as Brent indicated, even this kind of disastrous collapse is insufficient to dissuade the networks from abandoning their liberal agenda in favor of more balanced coverage.

—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.


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The attitude of the major

The attitude of the major networks these days reminds me of the giant US auto makers in the 70's. They dominated for so long and got complacent. Thinking that they were untouchable, and those pesky little foriegn imports aren't a threat. Well, now the big three networks are in that mode. "Oh those pesky alternative media sources, they aren't a threat to us, we don't need to change". Stand back and look at yourselves ABC, CBS and NBC, your empires are crumbling.

The old "horse race" dodge

From 1996:  

"Reporters want nothing more than, this year and four years ago, to have a horse race. That's what we're in love with, is the fight, the close call....So it's in our best interest to make it look close, to make Bob Dole look good." -- Chicago Tribune reporter Ellen Warren on CNN's Crossfire, September 20.

Reality Check:

 "The former Senator argued that voters have a choice between two different visions of government... The ex-deficit hawk returned to the centerpiece of his campaign, a 15 percent tax cut. Campaign aides claim they have private polls showing President Clinton vulnerable on the tax issue. That's the reason for this attack. But between now and election day the Republican nominee has to do more than criticize. He's got to sell the Dole plan." -- Reporter Phil Jones, September 24 CBS Evening News.

NBC reporter David Bloom: "So now Dole, who's complained about Clinton's campaign of fear, is taking a similar tack." Bob Dole: "Secrets, secrets. Remember the FBI files that went to the White House." Bloom: "With the election just six weeks away, calling Bill Clinton a liberal might soon look tame." -- September 24 NBC Nightly News.

"The same cynicism that may deflect attacks on Clinton seems to work directly against Bob Dole, with many voters here calling his 15 percent tax cut idea a political gimmick....Many of the voters we spoke with blamed Gingrich for last year's government shutdown, for a mean-spirited attitude generally, and for attempts to trim Medicare specifically." -- ABC's Dean Reynolds in Michigan, Sept. 23 World News Tonight.

But....

They have a liberal Consensus! It must be the thing to do, because they all agree it's the thing to do!

Let's see you argue with THAT logic!

Hah! 

 

and, of course...

the debate is over!!!  All of this "pretend" stuff is getting old.  There is NO debate ever as far as a liberal is concerned!

Survival of the Fit'ess

Only the Strong Survive, and in MSM's case, only the Smart survive.  

Winning a War is good American Patriotic news......report it -OR- be eaten by the Big Whales in the MSM ocean.

The MSM collaspe for audience share is sorta like Growing Old, it was happening at such a slow steady pace, they haven't noticed until now that the MSM is dying.   

And the Democratic Candidates refuse to appear on Fox for a Debate ?   Only the Smart will survive, and we've got to kill off a few of these MSM Talking heads before they will cowboy up.

What's the Tipping point for MSM ?  When will they reach it  ?  One at a time, or all together ?  

 

What good is a Free Press, if it is a False Press ?   David Foote  GoE

During Mr. Bozell's

During Mr. Bozell's appearance, was Mika busy rolling her eyes and making harumph noises off-camera?

We talked about this in

We've talked about this in other threads. Not because we're beating a dead horse, but because it always comes back to the same thing: they don't really care about ratings; it's all about agenda, agenda, agenda.

mb, Apologists for the

mb,

Apologists for the MSM always fall back on the old explanation that the media just likes "a horserace". They use it as a mild alternative criticism to the much more serious and real liberal bias.

Chris, if they think anyone

Chris, if they think anyone is buying the "horse race" line, they have grapes for brains. If they did, they would be pulling at least a little bit for their one-time buddy "Maverick McCain"....not throwing him to the wolves like they are.

Or consigning him to the

Or consigning him to the glue factory? :)

I love all the tortured explanations they try to offer as an alternative to bias, and how they try to make them into criticisms to show they aren't apologists. You know, like, "The media isn't biased, they just like sensationalism."

Networks

Ironically, and sadly for them, the networks have fallen into the same rut as the Democrats in Congress, and the educational establishment. They disregard the wider audience and the greater good because they are blinded by their own ideology. With the educators, and to some extent Congress, most people feel they can do nothing to change their ethos of idiocy. However, people can at least " tune out and turn off " the networks, which will  hurt them. Modern  "liberalism" is the scurge of the modern world. Everything it touches is seriously damaged, or destroyed altogether. However, the "liberal philosophy" has been so deeply embedded in our society over the past four decades, many truly believe that its failure is its "success". If the philosophy "succeeds", nothing else matters. And after all, none of the "elites" is ever going to be affected much by their own stupidity. They've got theirs, the hell with the ignorant masses who can so easily be fooled. Sounds a bit like Communism, ya' think?

NEVER,NEVER trust a "liberal"

ABC News

So much for the old outro I heard so often growing up "More Americans get their news from ABC News, than from any other source."

Elitism

They think that viewership/readership is declining because people are getting dumber. Their ideas are much too complex for the average American to understand. They choose, instead, to just keep preaching to the choir, even as it shrinks.

And why would they want to get the stupid people back, anyways? They're too stupid to understand that the socialist/liberal agenda that is the "correct" way for Americans to think, so who needs 'em?

 

 

or as Katie C said

she'll 'explain' what she just said to the viewers - you know, those no-nothings who are sitting there listening to her...RIGHT!  Tell us what you mean, Katie...we are tooooo dumb to figure it out ourselves. (of course, this is one person who is proud to claim to have never "sat there listening to her")

And they wonder why............talk about burying your head in the sand!

The numbers are staring

The numbers are staring these idiot network news producers in the face and all they do is stick their head in the sand.  Roughly, net news CBS 5 mil NBC and ABC about 7 mil. These are repeat viewers each night. How many unique listeners does Rush have each week? It will be a great day when the home shopping newtork has more viewers than the perky one.  

Corporate Cowardice

The network news divisions are not self-sufficient. If they were they would have died many years ago.

ABC, NBC, and CBS are a very small part of major corporations. If there is any fault on how their news divisions are run it falls on them.

And the reason why the corporations will not do anything about them is because the news divisions would scream censorship.

No matter that their news is already censored to meet their agendas, they have managed to cower their owners to keep hands off.

There will, however be a day of reckoning for the news divisions as their owners will simply leave them twisting, twisting in the wind and die a slow death.

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