forrestkc Posted July 11, 2007 Group: Royal Member Followers: 0 Topic Count: 114 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 4,015 Content Per Day: 0.60 Reputation: 8 Days Won: 1 Joined: 12/15/2005 Status: Offline Share Posted July 11, 2007 Sounds good and in a capitalistic country this should be the case. However when we look at the ratings of CBS, ABC, and NBC news we see that they have plummeted. By your assumption because of their plummeting ratings we should have seen heads rolling, but we haven't. Something doesn't smell right in the fish pond. I would venture you are correct on one thing. It has everything to do with money. Actually, the reason why their ratings have declined over the years is that their target demographic is seniors, and well, they are dying off. They also used to be the only games in town, but not face stiff competition with 24 hour news outlets and the internet. So, as their target demographic ages, they can't bring in younger viewers because younger viewers are much more apt to get their news from places like news.google.com, and are not going to watch the six o'clock news regardless of the format. CBS tried to target a young demographic with Couric, and it failed miserably. The same is true with newspapers, because of competition from the internet, their circulations have been in a steady decline for several years now. At some point, they will plateau, but they are probably never going to really increase circulation, and the game will simply be to maintain circulation. Fox News has a rather unique model among the 24 hours news outlets in that it's business model specifically targets the conservative, especially socially conservative, demographic. Prior to Fox News, the conservative demographic was split between the 6 oclock news outlets and CNN. Fox took off by providing coverage and content that appealed to middle age and older conservatives and thus concentrated their viewer ship on its network. That is not to say that Fox's news reporting is biased, because it really isn't. However, the stories it choses to report on are stories that which primarily appeal to conservatives (lots of reporting on cultural issues, not much reporting on the environment for example), and its opinionated news lineup is very conservative and very partisan. Now, if the only two games in town were CNN and Fox, CNN would have far better ratings than Fox. The problem for CNN and the other outlets is that while Fox is a niche outlet, they all have to compete against each other for the same demographics. They don't try to specifically target liberals though. The reason for this is that liberals by and large are younger, more active, and just don't watch the news all day. That is not to say that liberals are poorly informed, because they tend to well informed. However, they are much more apt to be readers, get their news from internet sources, and from NPR. So while Fox dominates the ratings, a trip to the local Barnes and Nobles's Current Events Section will tell you that liberals and progressives dominate on books. I am getting all over the board here, (and you can probably tell I work for a media organization), but the fact is, the notion that the media has a liberal or conservative bias for that matter is a myth. It is just not the case. Organizations target an audience and they provide coverage and content that appeals to the audience. ABC News tries to appeal to seniors, Fox News to conservatives, NPR to educated listeners, and so on and so forth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kansasdad Posted July 11, 2007 Group: Diamond Member Followers: 1 Topic Count: 19 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 1,227 Content Per Day: 0.18 Reputation: 6 Days Won: 0 Joined: 05/10/2005 Status: Offline Birthday: 08/19/1964 Share Posted July 11, 2007 Sounds good and in a capitalistic country this should be the case. However when we look at the ratings of CBS, ABC, and NBC news we see that they have plummeted. By your assumption because of their plummeting ratings we should have seen heads rolling, but we haven't. Something doesn't smell right in the fish pond. I would venture you are correct on one thing. It has everything to do with money. Actually, the reason why their ratings have declined over the years is that their target demographic is seniors, and well, they are dying off. They also used to be the only games in town, but not face stiff competition with 24 hour news outlets and the internet. So, as their target demographic ages, they can't bring in younger viewers because younger viewers are much more apt to get their news from places like news.google.com, and are not going to watch the six o'clock news regardless of the format. CBS tried to target a young demographic with Couric, and it failed miserably. The same is true with newspapers, because of competition from the internet, their circulations have been in a steady decline for several years now. At some point, they will plateau, but they are probably never going to really increase circulation, and the game will simply be to maintain circulation. Fox News has a rather unique model among the 24 hours news outlets in that it's business model specifically targets the conservative, especially socially conservative, demographic. Prior to Fox News, the conservative demographic was split between the 6 oclock news outlets and CNN. Fox took off by providing coverage and content that appealed to middle age and older conservatives and thus concentrated their viewer ship on its network. That is not to say that Fox's news reporting is biased, because it really isn't. However, the stories it choses to report on are stories that which primarily appeal to conservatives (lots of reporting on cultural issues, not much reporting on the environment for example), and its opinionated news lineup is very conservative and very partisan. Now, if the only two games in town were CNN and Fox, CNN would have far better ratings than Fox. The problem for CNN and the other outlets is that while Fox is a niche outlet, they all have to compete against each other for the same demographics. They don't try to specifically target liberals though. The reason for this is that liberals by and large are younger, more active, and just don't watch the news all day. That is not to say that liberals are poorly informed, because they tend to well informed. However, they are much more apt to be readers, get their news from internet sources, and from NPR. So while Fox dominates the ratings, a trip to the local Barnes and Nobles's Current Events Section will tell you that liberals and progressives dominate on books. I am getting all over the board here, (and you can probably tell I work for a media organization), but the fact is, the notion that the media has a liberal or conservative bias for that matter is a myth. It is just not the case. Organizations target an audience and they provide coverage and content that appeals to the audience. ABC News tries to appeal to seniors, Fox News to conservatives, NPR to educated listeners, and so on and so forth. ABC, NBC, and CBS have management that are liberal. This has colored their judgment as to what their audience wants to hear. I don't buy into the "conspiracy" theory, But it has played a strong influence into what they report and how they slant the report. Words can be accurate but slanted. This has not played well with the general public at large so they are turning to other sources. Problem is that the networks have not figured this out. They keep their blinders on and beat the same drum. Having said that, MSNBC has started putting some conservative commentators on their line up. Scarboro (?sp) comes to mind, and if you look at his ratings they are very strong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forrestkc Posted July 11, 2007 Group: Royal Member Followers: 0 Topic Count: 114 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 4,015 Content Per Day: 0.60 Reputation: 8 Days Won: 1 Joined: 12/15/2005 Status: Offline Share Posted July 11, 2007 ABC, NBC, and CBS have management that are liberal. This has colored their judgment as to what their audience wants to hear. I don't buy into the "conspiracy" theory, But it has played a strong influence into what they report and how they slant the report. Words can be accurate but slanted. This has not played well with the general public at large so they are turning to other sources. Problem is that the networks have not figured this out. They keep their blinders on and beat the same drum. Having said that, MSNBC has started putting some conservative commentators on their line up. Scarboro (?sp) comes to mind, and if you look at his ratings they are very strong But I think your missing the point. ABC News does not directly compete with Fox News, it competes with NBC and CBS. CNN targets the "General Public", MSNBC tries to but found it doesn't compete with CNN, and Fox News has found a profitable niche with Conservatives. If you took the viewer-ship of NBC, CBS, ABC, MSNBC, CNN Headline News, and CNN, and combined it, it dwarfs Fox News. However, Fox News usually has more than any one of those networks because it targets a specific audience rather than trying to appeal to the General Public. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kansasdad Posted July 11, 2007 Group: Diamond Member Followers: 1 Topic Count: 19 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 1,227 Content Per Day: 0.18 Reputation: 6 Days Won: 0 Joined: 05/10/2005 Status: Offline Birthday: 08/19/1964 Share Posted July 11, 2007 ABC, NBC, and CBS have management that are liberal. This has colored their judgment as to what their audience wants to hear. I don't buy into the "conspiracy" theory, But it has played a strong influence into what they report and how they slant the report. Words can be accurate but slanted. This has not played well with the general public at large so they are turning to other sources. Problem is that the networks have not figured this out. They keep their blinders on and beat the same drum. Having said that, MSNBC has started putting some conservative commentators on their line up. Scarboro (?sp) comes to mind, and if you look at his ratings they are very strong But I think your missing the point. ABC News does not directly compete with Fox News, it competes with NBC and CBS. CNN targets the "General Public", MSNBC tries to but found it doesn't compete with CNN, and Fox News has found a profitable niche with Conservatives. If you took the viewer-ship of NBC, CBS, ABC, MSNBC, CNN Headline News, and CNN, and combined it, it dwarfs Fox News. However, Fox News usually has more than any one of those networks because it targets a specific audience rather than trying to appeal to the General Public. I understand what you are saying, but it is this kind of thinking that is getting them into trouble. NBC, CBS, and ABC do not target the general public. Because of their personal bias they have un-wittingly targeted a more and more liberal audience. I agree that the older generation is "comfortable" with the way things were and still make up a portion of their audience. But as you said, these die out and they are more and more only left with their true target audience. The liberal like minded folks. They do have models where they have broken from their old ways and it has worked. Again Scarborough is a good example. There are a few other. But it is precisely this "we are not biased in our reporting so that can not possibly be the problem" attitude that is keeping them in low ratings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forrestkc Posted July 11, 2007 Group: Royal Member Followers: 0 Topic Count: 114 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 4,015 Content Per Day: 0.60 Reputation: 8 Days Won: 1 Joined: 12/15/2005 Status: Offline Share Posted July 11, 2007 I understand what you are saying, but it is this kind of thinking that is getting them into trouble. NBC, CBS, and ABC do not target the general public. Because of their personal bias they have un-wittingly targeted a more and more liberal audience. I agree that the older generation is "comfortable" with the way things were and still make up a portion of their audience. But as you said, these die out and they are more and more only left with their true target audience. The liberal like minded folks. They do have models where they have broken from their old ways and it has worked. Again Scarborough is a good example. There are a few other. But it is precisely this "we are not biased in our reporting so that can not possibly be the problem" attitude that is keeping them in low ratings. I have to disagree though. Liberals do not watch the evening news. They just don't. In fact, the only people that are how to watch it for the most part is seniors. I hardly ever get home in time to watch the evening news, and when I do, I got better things to do that just turn the TV on right away. It does not matter what their format is, or what their bias is or is not, I am not going to watch them. Scarborough picked up conservative Fox News viewers that did not want to watch Greta. Greta picks up Larry King viewers who don't want to watch Andrew Cooper. Then again, Andrew Cooper has always had better ratings than Scarborough. If every network when conservative like Fox, all they would do is dilute Fox News viewer ship and lose the general public they are targeting. It would just be a lose, lose, situation for everyone. In summary, not a single news network targets liberals specifically because liberals by and large are not reliable 24-hour news network viewers. Fox News is successful because it is the only network that blatantly targets conservatives, not because conservatives make up the mainstream or the majority of television viewers in general. I mean look, I am liberal on many issues, but the extent to which I watch network news is when I am drinking a cup of coffee when I get up in the mornings. Other than that, I might catch marketplace on NPR on the way into work, and then at some point in the day check news.google.com and read any articles that interest me. When I get home, I go for a run, work around the house or play with my kids, then maybe turn the TV on at 10 PM to watch the Daily Show. There is nothing that NBC or CBS could have on the evening news that would make me want to watch them with any regularity. They can go more conservative or more liberal or whatever, and I am still not going to watch them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 I thought this thread was about those in favor of Hillary Hillary's OK She Don't Wear A Mini-Skirt - You Never Find Her In A Shirt She's From New York They Say - She Doesn't Flirt And Sway Hillary's OK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kat8585 Posted July 11, 2007 Group: Royal Member Followers: 3 Topic Count: 1,360 Topics Per Day: 0.21 Content Count: 7,866 Content Per Day: 1.23 Reputation: 26 Days Won: 0 Joined: 11/22/2006 Status: Offline Birthday: 04/18/1946 Share Posted July 11, 2007 She Don't Wear A Mini-Skirt Thank goodness for that. Did I say that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marnie Posted July 11, 2007 Group: Royal Member Followers: 1 Topic Count: 811 Topics Per Day: 0.12 Content Count: 7,338 Content Per Day: 1.08 Reputation: 76 Days Won: 2 Joined: 10/06/2005 Status: Offline Share Posted July 11, 2007 She Don't Wear A Mini-Skirt Thank goodness for that. Did I say that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forrestkc Posted July 12, 2007 Group: Royal Member Followers: 0 Topic Count: 114 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 4,015 Content Per Day: 0.60 Reputation: 8 Days Won: 1 Joined: 12/15/2005 Status: Offline Share Posted July 12, 2007 She Don't Wear A Mini-Skirt Thank goodness for that. Did I say that? Even the longest skirt on her does not hide them huge cankles she has always had going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smalcald Posted July 12, 2007 Group: Royal Member Followers: 0 Topic Count: 32 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 5,258 Content Per Day: 0.76 Reputation: 42 Days Won: 3 Joined: 06/16/2005 Status: Offline Birthday: 07/22/1960 Share Posted July 12, 2007 Papasangel, stem cell aren't babies. You can feed a baby and put a diaper on it or rub it while it's in your belly kicking around. -- A stem-cell is a clump of 150 cells sitting in a petrie dish until they go into the trash. To get embryonic stem cells you have to destroy a human life. Now, certainly those tiny human life forms that are destroyed won't look like a human for another couple of months, but that is what they are. The reason the large corporations are so hot on embryonic stem cells is that you cannot patent and control cord blood stem cells. Embryonic stem cells have a much higher profit potential, it is Franken science at its worst. Many hundreds of thousands of people around the globe could be saved if we simply harvested the organs of convicted killers, or severely sick children who are going to die anyway, or simply paid people for their organs. This is the morality of embryonic stem cells and where it leads us. It is the culture of death and the culture of utility. Besides embryonic stem cell research is TOTALLY legal, companies, research foundations can start ALL of the lines they want; they just can Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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