re: #405 Gus

August 2013 Ratings: MSNBC Down Double Digits

There’s an interesting progressive media critique on the Dkos rec list this morning. dailykos.com
The news stuff starts about half way through…

When it comes to news, I’ve determined that the truly poisonous, debased stuff are the mainstream news channels/programs, like MSNBC, FoxNews (of course), CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC. So I basically stopped watching that trash all together unless I’m doing my “amateur” research on propaganda after a sensational event (mass shooting, terrorist attack, etc.).

That right there has improved my life enormously. When I think that at one point I was watching three hours of MSNBC a day, I just don’t know how anybody can function properly being exposed to that kind of pablum/trash on daily basis.

I think the problem is a bit broader than that. The fox news model works for conservatives but that doesn’t necessarily mean copying it on MSNBC is going to work. People often see something that works for their opponents and try to emulate it but they often misinterpret the model and why it works. The tea party was an imitation of lefty protest movements but conservatives couldn’t quite figure out why the imitation didn’t work for them. We’ve seen similar attempts to emulate sites like media matters but conservatives can’t quite figure it out.
I’m sure MSNBC could find a workable business model for a progressive news network but imitating Fox probably isn’t going to work for them.