On Christmas Day, Washington Post media reporter Jeremy Barr lamented CNN’s collapsing ratings on the front of the Style section. Why the decline? Barr implied CNN had gone too soft on Trump!
Barr began with a humorous exchange. CNN reporter Manu Raju pushed Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) about a pay raise: “People look at the performance of Congress and say, ‘Why should we give them more money?’” Durbin replied, “What about the media? Half of your listeners are not there anymore, and you’re still getting the same paycheck. What’s going on?”
CNN has prided itself in being the go-to channel for breaking news. “So it was a dagger to the network when MSNBC attracted more viewers on election night for the first time in the progressive network’s history.”
Anonymous sources theorized.
“I think a lot of it can be explained by the viewers making a decision that they just don’t like what we’re doing,” said a CNN political journalist who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to comment. “The viewers are pretty smart.”
Then Barr mangled the facts in CNN’s defense: “In some ways, it’s unfair to pick on one particular network. Television viewership is down across the board.” No, Fox News is up since the election.
This story on CNN ratings collapse says “it’s unfair to pick on one particular network. Television viewership is down across the board.”
— Marc Thiessen 🇺🇸❤️🇺🇦🇹🇼🇮🇱 (@marcthiessen) December 25, 2024
Ummm … not entirely across the board
Doesn’t mention Fox at all. https://t.co/DPNyRj18E9 pic.twitter.com/7KeFC3dOiP
Speaking of fact-mangling, an anonymous CNN executive tried to claim CNN is far less ideological than MSNBC and Fox. It's more like the BBC...as if that isn't a leftist sinkhole!
A CNN executive, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly, said it’s wrong to compare the network’s audience to that of Fox News and MSNBC, which are more ideologically oriented. The better comparison, this person said, is to the BBC, which similarly has a large global newsgathering operation and a worldwide audience.
In explaining the ratings collapse, Barr claimed "Some of the decline has been pegged to the network’s decision to host a town hall event with Donald Trump in May 2023 that drove away viewers and upset many members of the network’s staff." Viewers might have soured on CNN's campaign coverage. “It is widely felt at CNN that we didn’t meet the mark,” the CNN political journalist said.
While CNN has never indicated a change in its coverage strategy, the network’s decision to abstain from fact-checking Trump during the presidential debate it hosted in June 2024 brought new criticism. And Scott Jennings, a Republican political strategist and acolyte of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), has become a ubiquitous presence on the network.
CNN's ratings collapse can be blamed on Too Much Scott Jennings??
Barr turned back on the leftist complaint that CNN under the brief tenure of CEO Chris Licht cut ties with flagrant partisans while they “trumpeted an increase in Republicans appearing on the air.” Typically, Jennings is dramatically outnumbered by liberals when he appears.
The story ended with flagrant partisan journalist John Harwood, noting that shortly before his release from CNN, Harwood proclaimed the two parties aren’t equal. “These are not honest disagreements. The Republican Party right now is led by a dishonest demagogue.”
Barr wrote, “While CNN never said whether Harwood’s departure was tied to his comments, viewers — and some staffers — took it that way.” So the Post is implying what CNN really needs to rebound is less Jennings and more Harwoods.