FoxNews vs. CNN

A reader and friend, KB, wrote the following:

"Did you know that Aaron Brown got better ratings than Anderson Cooper does now? And that CNN fired Brown to bring in Cooper to appeal to the younger demographic, yet Cooper's ratings in that category have fallen even more than the overall ratings have in comparison to Brown? I read that the other day and this post reminded me of it." -KB

Thanks for the comment. And by the way, I really do appreciate all the readers on blogspot or xanga, though not everyone comments. But now I will comment on KB's words.

That is actually a very interesting fact that I never knew about. It seems as if CNN bit themselves in their back and they did not even know it. But before we hail Murdoch as king, I must clear up one misconception.

Even though actual numbers show FoxNews beatin CNN in almost every show, except for maybe Larry King and Lou Dobbs, they are actually not beating CNN. In every show except for the O'Reilly Factor, CNN actually leads in ratings from the demographic age group of 24-55, which is the key demographic for sponsors. So in that sense, CNN is winning. This does mean that many viewers come from the older, more conservative generation and the young people in high school and in college. The latter fact is a little shocking. So who is winning? Looks on how you see it.

But one thing is still true. Bill O'Reilly is kicking ass. Not just Paula Zahn's ass. But everyone's ass. Though I will comment on something else related to this. Notice that O'Reilly is the only show beating CNN in all demographics. Also notice that CNN only beats FoxNews in every show for actual numbers, except for King and Dobbs. What is the link between these three anchors except that they are old and famous? They are all very opiniated and controversial in what they say. It seems that in our age that celebrates diversity and individualism, this is another sign of our conformist ways, where we are afraid to stand up and stick out for the world to see. Instead, we are quickly becoming a bunch of bandwagoners who rarely think for our own. We wait for a big name like O'Reilly or King to say it, using that as permission for us say what we believed in the first place.

I hear many people complain about the lack of objectivity in news today. The only reason that subjectivity is winning in the world of news is because those who are making the money and can survive on the air are those who are being the least objective. And how do they make the money? Because people like YOU watch them.

This is not a conservative or a liberal rant. I only ask us to think for ourselves. I may have leaning towards CNN because I work for them and a liberal slant because heck, I grew up in New York City, but when it comes to who wins out in this battle, I could not care less. Because at the end of the day, I am still an unpaid intern.