They can get better ratings by covering the Trump campaign as the train wreck it is.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]A 90% chance of rain means the same as a 10% chance:
It might rain and it might not.[/center][/font][hr]

Their viewers are overwhelmingly anti-Trump.

And their non-stop Hillary bashing.

I watch CNN all day every day. The coverage is mostly VERY fair and balanced. They have to report on things that go bad for Clinton too because if they don't then they are no better than Fox News or any other biased outlet. Undecided people tune out sources that only go after one side. CNN is very fair.

I have the same view of CNN. They seem to be trying to be fair. Of course right now... They are pretty pissed.

They really make an effort to fact check the BS Trump spews in most cases.

Last edited Fri Sep 16, 2016, 02:15 PM - Edit history (1)

Welcome to DU, NoGoodNamesLeft.

That more even-handed treatment of Hillary versus Trump - is fairly recent. I've watched them closely, too. Them and MSNBC. It's been FAR too easy and WAY to prevalent just to run with the anti-Hillary talking points. I think it may be because there's been a surprisingly large pushback in the Op/Eds, and online, Twitter etc, of people complaining that Hillary gets a bad rap, they'll chew on her legs all day long for something they do a brief fly-by with Trump or other republi-CONS.

For example - how much in-depth follow-up coverage has there been for that Newsweek bombshell about Trump's funky business dealings that can easily leave our national security totally compromised if he becomes POTUS? Answer? NONE. I suspect if that story had Hillary's name attached, they'd still be crawling all over it months from now. The lopsided coverage of every last question or rumor or lie about Hillary, Bill, the Clinton Foundation, the emails, the works - after it's been repeatedly proven there's nothing there - that's all there's been. Up til just lately.

As recently as only a few days ago, Wolf Blitzer SAT THERE, MUTE, while Trump surrogate Jack "the mouth breather" Kingston (former Georgia CONgressman) re-asserted the lies about the Clinton Foundation - that were born of that AP hatchet job, lies and distortions and misrepresentations that have been thoroughly debunked elsewhere in the press. He just let that one go. Didn't challenge Kingston. Didn't fact-check him. Didn't interrupt him to stop him from continuing to spew lies. Just SAT there. Didn't do jack shit about this til after the next commercial break. Kingston was long gone from the set by then, and most viewers had already forgotten. Only THEN did Blitzer come back on and sort of hem and haw about how that assertion wasn't true. The time to do that was RIGHT THEN AND THERE, when the lies were spewing out of the lying mouths. I must tell you, NoGoodNamesLeft, that I used to work at the AP, and used to be thrilled about that for the reputation and cachet that the very name Associated Press had. This latest episode was a horrible jolt, extremely painful for me. It hurt, personally. It hurt BADLY. That's not the AP I knew.

I am also almost shocked outta my skin that they're actually using the "L-word" (lies, lying, lied, a lie) to refer to this Trump development this morning. I'm shocked! They're actually coming right out and saying that - saying it THAT WAY. Stunning! But this is still a relatively new evolution. I can think back to such wussy weasel-y comments as "Prevaricating President?" during the bush/cheney era, regarding the lies about the war. NOBODY DARED use the word "lie" in this case. Nobody wanted to go there.

I am shocked to watch, for example, Hallie Jackson on MSNBC actually stop a Trump apologist and correcting his false assertion (his LIE) that the Hillary campaign started the birther controversy. Which they DID NOT. I am STUNNED to see more news people actually start fact-checking. They did NO SUCH THING for way too long. They just sat there. It's only since Joy Reid started being an aggressive fact-checker on bullshit-spewing GOP or Trump surrogates that I've seen other on-camera folks start doing that. It NEVER happened before, until very recently. This is brand new stuff.

Don't forget how too many of our lame lazy "journalists" have insisted for far too long that it's not their job to fact-check their guests. That it's enough if you let Guest A go blah-blah-blah and then Guest B offer an opposing blah-blah-blah and then you come back on and say "well, we're gonna have to leave it there..." with NO fact-checking or correction of flat-out lies and bullshit being peddled as "truth." The misleading shit, the lies, the distortions, all of it has been allowed to stand, unchecked, unquestioned, unchallenged. Chuck Todd and more recently Chris Wallace have actually asserted that, flat-out. And MAN are they wrong! But as a retired broadcast journalist myself, this has stuck in my craw almost like being gored by a bull - to see this shit perpetuated year after year after year. I have watched this shit and fumed about it - literally FOR YEARS. The free pass ronald reagan got. The free pass bush/cheney got. The persecution of Bill Clinton as just about ANYTHING the GOP or Pox Noise or hate radio insinuated was picked up and run with. The persecution Hillary Clinton has endured for a quarter century at least - NONE of it based on any truth. This more evenhanded coverage is NEW. WAY new. Like, merely a few days old. I'm waiting for the bad old lazy habits to resume any ol' time now. I'm actually expecting it.

I am STUNNED today - to see even Andrea Mitchell jumping on the lies that are still being attempted by Trump apologists like Bruce Levell and others trying to push the blame for birtherism onto Hillary. That is a lie. And they're actually calling it that. I can't believe Andrea Mitchell is on this, too. Her coverage has revealed her to be extremely biased against Hillary, up til now. But this stinks too bad even for her to ignore or excuse or gloss over. Even Andrea Mitchell is calling out this lie. Color me flabbergasted.

And again, I have CNN on from about 7am until after midnight every day other than an hour here or there for other shows I watch weekly or when I am out. I work from home and it's on while I work.

I've mentioned that I probably come from a different perspective than most here. I am not a Democrat or a Republican. I am a registered Independent swing voter in a battleground state. I represent the holy grail of what every campaign goes after and wants to win.

I find CNN to the most balanced and honest of all networks and sources. Every network is going to have one or two hosts who have a slant, but it's easy to spot that. When CNN reports on Trumps BS people like me listen because they don't coddle Clinton either. All candidates have warts and Hillary is no exception. She has a hell of a lot LESS warts than Trump. If CNN never criticized Clinton I would not trust anything they say negative about Trump. This is why having balance is SO crucial.

--the illusion that both sides are just as bad as one another, therefore, fair and balanced coverage will consist of equal amounts of good and bad things said about each side.

What if the truth is that one side is way worse than the other? What would fair and balanced coverage look like then?

That's kind of offensive, really.

I'll say it again...I am NOT a Democrat OR a Republican. I am an Independent. I do NOT want any part of reporting that is NOT critical to BOTH sides of things. I CARE very, very deeply about hearing ALL sides so that I can make a fully informed opinion as to what I believe about it.

I do NOT want to listen to ANY slant or reporting based on what anyone may consider to be the moral high or low ground. I want the FACTS. I will examine those facts independently as the adult I am so that I can use my OWN moral standards and beliefs to determine what is right or wrong or better or worse.

When reporters inject their personal perspective and opinions into a story it no longer qualifies as the news and becomes commentary.

If someone wants FACTS without the commentary then in my personal experience, CNN delivers best.

I do not mean for this to sound super snarky...I just do not like it when anyone tries to tell me what to think or listen to. It flies about as well as an elephant pissing on a flat rock. Could get a little messy. :p

A suggestion that you look something differently is not telling you "what to think or listen to". Good grief, if you think it is, why even be part of a discussion board created with the express purpose of people putting forth their various, differing ideas about what is good or bad, right or wrong in politics?

I said something may be true, I asked, what if...I stand by my comments, which you haven't actually even addressed. You go on about a lot of stuff I didn't say and don't address what I did say.

Clearly, no use continuing trying to discuss.

If you disagree with someone then you say you disagree. You can do that without implying that there is a problem with my perception or that I am easily misled simply because I do not share your particular view. That is the part that is offensive, especially considering that I keep repeating the fact that I devote a great deal of effort to make certain that I look at ALL sides of things before just believing whatever I hear.

The network is fair, in general. I see carping over their coverage and interviews here from some DU members but when I go on news sites with comments from supporters of both parties, I often read the accusations of bias from right-wingers who say it's the Clinton News Network.

Same with Anderson Cooper recently. He interviewed Trump and some people on this forum skewered Cooper, saying he wasn't a real journalist because he didn't challenge Trump on every falsehood that Trump uttered (which is pretty much every statement that comes out of his mouth). And then Trump said yesterday that he doesn't think Cooper is deserving of being a debate moderator because he's unfair.

Seems like some real difference of opinion there.

is inevitably nothing but a publicity stunt. Oh, the poor poor media, losing at their own game. It would be sad if it weren't so laughable.

It's about time!

You just have to consistently watch to see that.

So, he worked like a fucking champion to destroy balance or fairness that day.

You can't judge an entire network on one host.

Trump episode, and couldn't help but notice that when they showed the incident of Hillary at the WTC (this many days after the event) they repeated it several times almost as if its a joke. Something out of a Graucho Marx comedy. I became disgusted with it. Here she is trying to be a serious candidate for POTUS (the only one trying BTW), and here they are now treating her incident like its a joke?

There's no good reason to show that clip at this point

Will his poll numbers fall as a result tho is my question Hopefully Hillary wil grill him all day We need to regain the lead !

I'm hoping she will tweet tonight. She's been starting that much more lately.

For balance they will target some Hillary problem next.

lol...they have got their knickers in a twist.

This will be the story all weekend and it will be a question in the debates.

Big miscalculation by Trump's campaign.

That's why they were so hard on Hillary over the incident last Sunday - they were pissed that they didn't know where she was for 90 minutes.

Trump will probably take a hit in the polls now Ok the debates are gonna be pivotal now Rest up Hillary ! Kick butt

Holy hell...this is rich.

That ? I hope a trump surrogate said it Keep digging assholes

She said the way Trump treats the media reminds her of dictators like Saddam or something similar. She was getting her rant on, lol.

so, he might think it's a compliment.

That's how he hopes to win. He has already desensitized many to his shenanigans and it overshadows Hillary Clinton's attempts to explain what she wants to do for this country.

Not near a TV.

I understand the trump quote is

"“Hillary Clinton in her campaign of 2008 started the birther controversy. I finished it. President Barack Obama was born in the United States, period. Now we all want to get back to making America strong and great again.”

They were really ripping him a new one. Right now Wolf Blitzer is on and he isn't going at Trump too hard on it, but he's really the only one from CNN that hasn't that I've seen so far.

Thanks.

Hoping this is the moment where media realizes they can't pretend this guy is a normal candidate any more.

Similar things happened with McCain and Romney. They each said something that was indefensible, and media more or less said fuck this, we can't pretend any longer.

McCain: 'fundamentals of economy are strong" the day after the economy collapsed
Romney: 47% of Americans are losers
And hopefully Trump: HRC is a birther

They can accept any amount outrageously bad behavior until that bad behavior is directed at their prerogatives. Then they get mad.

After the break

I have NEVER, NEVER, NEVER heard the MSM tear into ANY Repig like this.

here's how it rolled, imho:

MSM sources were giving DJT positive coverage w/o fact checking when he was 5 points behind in OH, up through last week. they only know how to make bank off a horse race, and DJT was very much in risk of getting blown out bigly.

however, once he caught up in the polls, the MSM owning class looked at their stock portfolios and contemplated the impact of a DJT presidency on their net worth. now the hounds will be unleashed until HRC is comfortably back in the lead again, much to the relief of many news anchors and reporters who seem visibly annoyed and repulsed by having to prop up DJT.

DJT's free media coverage is going to get pretty sour for a while now.

i expect one more cycle of this before the election; with any luck DJT will peak again in the last week of October and drop back by 10 or so for election day.