The announcement for Piers Morgan's new book, Shooting Straight: Guns, Gays, God, and George Clooney, states that the liberal host of a Cable News Network weeknight program “is one of the most talked-about, controversial figures in the media today.”
Even though Morgan has been engaged in a years-long crusade to implement extreme gun-control laws, neither he nor his publisher, Simon & Schuster, apparently had any qualms about pushing the book on Wednesday, only two days after the Navy Yard shooting that left 13 people dead.
According to Warner Todd Huston of Breitbart.com: “When called out on his pathetic opportunism” by fellow Breitbart reporter John Nolte on Twitter, Morgan lamely responded: “Can you name a single day when my book WOULDN'T clash with a gun outrage in America?”
It's also bizarre that the anti-gun host of “Piers Morgan Live” would use the words “shooting straight” in the title of his book, which won't reach store shelves until October 15.
The promotional blurb also claims: “Love him or hate him, it’s undeniable that Morgan is one of the most talked-about, controversial figures in the media today.”
From gun control and gay marriage to religion and pop icons, he tackles the hot-button topics head on.
In his book, Morgan “discusses candidly his refusal to bend to public pressure or political correctness” during “his meteoric rise to fame in the United States.”
As NewsBusters previously reported, Morgan's show has gained some viewers as part of the rejuvenation of CNN by its new president, Jeff Zucker, but the ratings rise has certainly not been “meteoric.”
The announcement also stated: “Morgan’s account is a riveting, no-holds-barred depiction of an adrenaline-fueled life anchoring a nightly news show in the world’s most ruthless, competitive and pressurized media marketplace.”
Written in a compelling diary format, Shooting Straight provides a heartfelt account of Morgan’s extraordinary new life and his continuing love affair with America. Shocking, funny, and incisive, it proves once again why Piers Morgan has taken the world by storm.
That final claim is strongly disputed by Dan Andros, who wrote an article on August 27 for Glenn Beck's website entitled: “A comprehensive history of Piers Morgan’s ratings woes.”
“CNN officially announced Piers Morgan as the replacement for the legendary Larry King on September 8, 2010,” Andros stated. “Piers himself said before his program debuted that the ‘only benchmark’ of his success would be whether or not he could lift CNN’s ratings from ‘cellar-dwelling’ status. Well, he’s had 664 shows to get the job done -- has he?”
Nope, not even close. A closer look at his entire ratings history leaves no doubt: Piers Morgan has failed, and he’s failed spectacularly.
"In his first 664 shows, Piers Morgan has placed third or fourth (out of four) an astonishing 85 percent of the time,” Andros wrote. “He most commonly comes in a distant third place (60 percent of the time) behind [Fox News Channel's Sean] Hannity and [MSNBC's Rachel] Maddow and is dead last with 25 percent of his shows.
“He occasionally places second (11 percent), and he only lands in first place a mere four percent of the time,” the reporter added.
“But even the four percent is misleading” since Morgan only won his time slot seven times due to breaking coverage of natural disasters and tragedies, three times when Hannity was on vacation, and 13 times due to such alternate programming as debates, an inauguration or a holiday schedule.
“That leaves five legitimate first-place finishes,” which means that Morgan has only been truly successful 0.8 percent of the time.
“If only his ratings were as big as his inflated ego,” Andros concluded.
An interesting incident reported by Washington Post blogger Erik Wemple on Wednesday shows that Morgan is definitely not lacking in the ego department.
After Morgan tweeted about his upcoming book, @ngkos stated: “Let's hope @JohnRLottJr reads it.” Of course, Lott -- who has been a pro-gun rights guest on “Piers Morgan Live” many times -- stated: “Pls send me a copy, I would be happy to review it.”
“Buy one yourself,” the grouchy CNN host replied flatly.
