MSM is in trouble. Sucks for them.

[darkworkz]

(this is a repost from 2004 Election Results and Discussion)

There are still a few comments to be found on DU concerning the MSM and it's impact on the US population.

Well take a look at the article below and be your own judge on how well MSM is doing.

http://www.newshounds.us/2005/05/18/fox_news_in_ratings_free_fall.php#more

Fox News in Ratings Free Fall
Here's something you won't hear on Fox News -- ratings for the cable
news channel have been plummeting since before the November election.

According to TV Newser, the number of people watching Fox during prime
time in the 25 to 54 age bracket dropped in April for the sixth straight month.

TV Newser cited a CNN press release which gave these totals for Fox's
primetime audience in the 25 to 54 age bracket: Oct. 04: 1,074,000; Nov.04: 891,000; Dec. 04: 568,000; Jan. 05: 564,000; Feb. 05: 520,000; March 05: 498,000; April 05: 445,000. That amounts to a decline of 58 percent, with no sign of leveling off.

----

The listening / viewing audience is getting smaller by the month. Real small. Who's Karl going to beam his messages too if only the absolute 'hard core' punch-drinkers are watching? An audience sample that small has no value.

Let's see where we and * stand at the end of the next 3 months.

Interesting times indeed.

[Vincardog]

1. Down for six straight months! Take that you Corporate Controlled Propaganda

whores. And by that I do not wish to give offense to hard working prostitutes.

[TexasLawyer]

2. Great news

I hope that Fox is at last "Outfoxed".

That station has been getting ever more blatantly Pravda-like. But you can't fool all of the people all of the time.

[TexasLawyer]

3. Recommended, too

I think people should recommend this article onto the greatest page. It's easy to get discouraged in the fight against fascism.

But the declining number of Fox News viewers is encouraging-- a sign that perhaps some progress is being made.

[LynnTheDem]

4. I suspect it sucks even more for the families of all the dead.

The ones who are dead because the MSM didn't bother to do their jobs, who didn't bother even attempting to be "fair" when they had pro-war guest commentators @ 75%+ and pro-peace guests @ 25%-.

Then there are the hundreds of thousands of people who are sick, wounded, scarred, screwed-up because the MSM didn't bother to do their jobs, who didn't bother even attempting to be "fair" when they had pro-war guest commentators @ 75%+ and pro-peace guests @ 25%-.

All the msm had to do was their jobs.

All the msm had to do was fair reporting @ 50-50.

That's all.

But that was far too much for the now-dead Americans to ask for.

Far too much for the now-wounded/crippled/blind/brain-dead/scarred Americans to ask for.

America; "greatest nation" in the world...just don't ask for or expect too much, such as the media to do its job in exchange for your life and health.

[AP]

6. Sucks most (by volume) for the working poor families whom Republicans are

screwing over.

[AP]

5. I wonder if Bush's poll numbers are going down because:

(1) The reasons people are turning off Fox are the same reasons they're turning from Bush (they just can't stand Republicans); or

(2) Without people watching Fox, the WH has lost their major conduit to the public imagination, so they can't promote Bush effectively; or

(3) a combination of both?

[KansDem]

7. Good observations! It's the "party till she's cute" syndrome...

I think you're right on and would probably go more with (2) than with (1) I think it's the "party till she's cute" syndrome. Fox was once "the drug" of choice among "average Americans." But now that more and more Americans are turning off Fox, they are in essence coming out of their drug-induced stupor. And in doing this, Bush no longer "looks cute." Perhaps Americans are waking up like it was the next morning, hung over and seeing Bush in bed with them, and they don't like what they see.

They're probably saying to themselves, "Man, get my shoes and slacks and I'm outta here!"

[goclark]

10. They still can watch CNN for the Nazi Line nt

Rush's trash girl friend that lkooks like a man, Wolfie, Judy and all the rest of the trash.

[AP]

11. Or read the NYT to figure out how the rest of the world doesn't matter.

Yeah, there's no shortage of RW propaganda in the rest of the media -- news AND entertainmnet!

Like ABC's upcoming show on the resurection! Either they're hoping that a lot of the 18-25 year olds misheard and think there's going to be a show about erections, or the media is really willing to explore the lower realms of the Nielsen ratings in order to try to give the WH a popular mood that helps rightwingers.

[Toots]

8. Republicans better get the obscenity laws revoked as quickly as possible

Without sex and obscenity to offer the mindless how will they survive? I guess Fox News is still cable so the new laws don't yet apply..phew.. Expect to see some scantily clad female news casters in real short order.

[JohnyCanuck]

9. How Many More Lies Will the Media Tell

Before We Stop Them?

Editor, TvNewsLIES.org - May, 2005

<snip>

During this, my third year as editor of TvNewsLIES.org, I am stunned by the lack of outrage towards our news media by the people of this country.

How surreal do things have to get before we decide to stop the madness? What level of hypocrisy do our media have to reach before we explode? Are we waiting until there is no option other than taking to the streets to restore control of the airways to the citizens of this country? What is taking place today within our news media is beyond anything a democratic society can withstand. If our democracy is to survive we must no longer permit the assault of lies to continue.

This is not a matter of bias in the media; it is a matter of deception. Bias, however damaging, is nowhere as dangerous and destructive as the sheer deception that is taking place. People can detect bias, but unless they are actively exploring alternative news sources they might never even suspect that they are being deceived or lied to by omission. The corporate media have abused the trust that had been earned by journalists past. They know the public trusts them to tell the truth. They know that a public that trusts them will not spend time fact checking.

But over the past 6 or 7 years a drastic change has taken place. The lies of the media have become so egregious that they can no longer be ignored or allowed to continue.

US media has intentionally created a false impression in the minds of the populace as they cover for the deplorable acts, numerous lies and the unforgivable crimes committed by the Bush administration.

More at:
http://www.tvnewslies.org/html/what_will_it_take_.html

[ikojo]

12. Is this really great news? Now that many of the other

networks have been brow beaten into conservative submission, the neocons see no need to have cable and get their news from Faux.

It isn't like the other networks are reporting what is really going on, they still report from a right-wing perspective. There are few stories on working class and poor people. Bush is rarely called to task on the other "news" stations.

[IChing]

14. Nuzak: What the mainstream media are giving us is elevator news

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1793964

[darkworkz]

15. Is this really great news? Well Drudge thinks so... ;-)

One of the key pillars in *'s world just got screwed up. The attack on Isikoff
along with Rather shows that no reporter is safe.

The American press is starting to sever ties of loyalty with Bush. This is to save their own collective necks.

The change is here. Funny thing is, Drudge is the one telling the story. Is this news that's good for Drudge? Does he even understand the shifting paradigm he's reporting on?

http://www.drudgereport.com/flash3mi1.htm

XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX TUE MAY 17, 2005 18:02:22 ET XXXXX

REVENGE OF THE SITH PRESS: REPORTERS RIP BUSH SPOKESMAN OVER NEWSWEEK
MESS

Mainline reporters moved into battle mode today during a White House
press briefing -- as one of their own outlets continued to hemorrhage
over a now retracted story!

Afghanistan's government said Tuesday that NEWSWEEK should be held
responsible for damages caused by deadly anti-American demonstrations
after the magazine alleged U.S. desecration of the Quran.

The White House said the United States' image abroad had suffered
irreparable damage by the story.

But it was the press's turn to fight back as Bush spokesman Scott
McClellan opened his briefing to questions.



Q With respect, who made you the editor of Newsweek? Do you think it's
appropriate for you, at that podium, speaking with the authority of the
President of the United States, to tell an American magazine what they
should print?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm not telling them. I'm saying that we would encourage
them to help --

Q You're pressuring them.

MR. McCLELLAN: No, I'm saying that we would encourage them --

Q It's not pressure?

[MADem]

13. If the ratings drop too much, and this misadministration keeps freefalling

...Faux will start trending to the liberal tack. One by one, the conservative and reactionary voices will leave to "pursue other opportunities," to be replaced by incompetents who will be hapless foils for smart, sharp, trash-talking liberals lured by a generous paycheck.

Murdoch cares about two things: power and money. He would praise the practice of baby eating if there was a baby eater in the White House. He doesn't care about anything save influence and cash.

He has no moral compass. It's all about lining his wallet.

[lonestarnot]

16. Right fucking on! Take a hike Faux Snuz

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

17. Time for them to start giving away one-channel teevees

ala the sets they used to license in Britian (do they still do it that way, or are there stations outside the BBC purview now?)

Suddenly I'm thinking of Max Headroom...

[Cleita]

18. How long did they think they could con the public by

not delivering the product that they advertised? I hope they all go under then when they have to sell cheaply, maybe some progressives will invest in the channels and deliver real news.

[killbotfactory]

19. You can't polish a turd

I guess people are waking up to the fact that BUSH IS THE WORST GODDAMNED PRESIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES.

[MoonRiver]

20. Take this Network and shove it, I ain't watching it no more.

:nopity:

[Bigmack]

21. If nobody believes the MSM...

... where will people get their news? Blogs? My big problem with rightwingnut radio is that they just keep whipping up the whackos with lies, and blogs will do that, too. The rightwing blogs are lots whackier than the left, so the right will win the blog wars just like the right has won the AM radio wars.

Another possibility is that people will just turn off to ALL news... drop out of the political scene. Another win for the rightwingnuts, since they love a sheep-like populace.

What we actually need is a REAL media with the balls to investigate, to expose, and to inform. Not gonna happen with the corporations in charge.

As with so many other subjects in out political scene, I don't see a happy outcome from the media wars.

[Griffy]

22. Alternate and Indy media are GROWING... they are telling the truth!

.. and people looking for info are finding it... but more needs to be done.. so talk to people, get them into the media sources we know.. like AAR and Democracy Now!

We can and WILL win this... 1 way or another... sooner or later!

So stick with it... talk to strangers if you got the nerve, or just print and pass out info on the lies of the media and where people in your area can hear the truth! the numbers are adding up.. I leave stuff in the metro and talk to cashiers and waiters (wait till the meals done, in case...) .. this is a war of words, for the minds of Americans, and word of mouth is slow, but powerful! Revolution has happened before, and none of them had the Internet! (let alone personal printing machines)

[Bigmack]

23. I listen to AAR on XM..

I watch Democracy Now on DishNetwork, I DU (probably more than I should). I get fired up and talk to people, but I get the feeling all my news sources are just preaching to the converted.

This week I had two neighbors stunned speachless with:
a) the story about Jane Fonda NOT giving the notes to the N. V. that supposedly got POW's beaten. and....
b) Rev. Moon's involvement with guys like Falwell and the Bushes.

Those two neighbors might.. just might... question the status quo a little, but I feel a lot like the Xian missionaries must have felt in China at the turn of the 20th century.. converting 1 pagan a year against an uphill birth rate.

Until the kind of shit we see all the time on DU gets into the MSM, we're just having a circle-jerk... a Progressive circle-jerk, but a circle-jerk nonetheless.

[dissent1977]

24. Do you really think FOX News is Mainstream?

FOX represents the corporate whores, the chest pounding apes(and chimps), and the Fristians it does not represent the mainstream. Please call it what it is, the corporate media not the MSM.