32 Comments

There are more efficient and frankly more interesting ways to consume news than to listen to broadcasting by an opinionated “host” and a passel of “guests”. With different “hosts” repeating the same information hour after hour…..it is a cumbersome (and expensive!) proposition.

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Chris. You and Van Jones called Trump a genius so I remain unconvinced that you occupy the middle ground of commentary. lol

You should also read The View from Nowhere, By Thomas Nagel. It will help you understand just how unlikely it is to be objective. I’m not sure it’s sensible to be objective about Polio vaccines either. Can you defend that or the lunacy that has put us here?

ABC’s public bribe of Trump also demonstrates where the USA is on its path to dictatorship.

Trump likely has 6 months before the nation erupts in violence. It’s also so predictable and needless.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_View_from_Nowhere

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Why do you think that the nation will "erupt in violence?" That seems wildly improbable to me.

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Because it did last time Trump was President. When you are selecting candidates for your cabinet who want to ban the polio vaccine, you know that’s not going to end well. Part of the problem is the empowerment of individuals who enjoy the persecution of minorities. Take Minneapolis police department for example which caused the death of George Floyd. After the DOJ review of that departments appalling practices, half of them quit. Then guess what happened to Minneapolis’ crime rate? It crashed.

Trump’s behavior causes violence.

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Okay. I misunderstood what you meant by a nation errupting in violence.

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Call me a boomer but I miss the good old days when TV news reported.....wait for it....the actual news! What we have now is less news and more opinion.

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Unless the corporate media actually calls balls and strikes, we are not reengaging with them. We were already disengaged, for the most part prior to the election and have not watched any since the election. After the inauguration, still not interested. No pushback, the lies, the utter disregard of reality and the panels offer nothing, especially Scott Jennings at CNN.

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I'm done with the Crappy News Network.

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Adding that I like Abby Phillip but her show is unwatchable.

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Agreed. Sadly, it's evolved into "The Jerry Springer Show" (minus a studio audience).

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The biggest issue is that while you, Chris, are holding yourself to a higher nonpartisan standard, the overwhelming majority of those reporting news in our "new" social/podcast media landscape are not. They care about clicks. And the more biased you are, the more clicks you get. Which means misinformation will continue to run rampant with zero accountability, leading to an even more un/misinformed electorate.

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The medium is infected by Fox News as the government sanctioned voice for the past several decades. Ever spend time in an airport? There is no real competition. If there were, we’d be winning.

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Chris,

Are you going to call 'balls and strikes' like John Roberts does?

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I'm hard pressed to see what Trump has done right. You are in the middle and will call balls and strikes. I guess that means you can see things that he will do that will be good for America. What are the balls and strikes that you see for his cabinet picks?

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The current Internet opinion-sphere is nothing more than a massive digital expansion of the traditional newspaper editorial / letters spaces. Most of the content is half-baked opinion, with zero original reporting, opining on invented facts, based on out of context news clips.

Without the original reporting model provided by MSM, the digital sphere will complete its journey to the dark-side and become nothing more than the internet equivalent of CNN's old show Crossfire. Wherein talking heads just scream at each other, selling outrage and owning the other side as the sole reason(s) for its existence.

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2dEdited

change the topic to "The End of the Broadcast News Era"

I haven't looked for the data, but I am sure that the same trend lines regarding viewership for all broadcast news (ABC, NBC, CBS) will be the same

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Your timing on this subject could not be more on point. We got rid of cable last week. It’s all garbage. I much prefer streaming services and independent journalists. Best thing we ever did! I am enjoying your reporting Chris! Oh and love that music list you posted as one of your favorite things. ❤️

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I don't have a YouTube account, so I can't comment on there, but I agree 💯 with your video about ABC. These corporations that control news channels are willing to throw freedom of the press out the window, as long as their bottom line looks good.

I'm afraid that once they ask fall into line, the Trump administration WILL start targeting smaller entities like local news and even independent folks like yourself. Then the government can feed us the info we "need" without interference.

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The fact that Foxnews has gained viewers post election explains how Trump won. Front running, MAGA bandwagoners going home to roost.

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I worked in TV broadcast news for 40 years. I was a news junkie of sorts. I used to enjoy watching Chris and Van Jones on CNN. BUT these channels have too often become less about news and more about "analysis". They beat a story to death without bringing anything new to the table...talking about what they think will happen like the gentleman who predicted violence. The reality is NO ONE knows what will happen beyond the next 10 minutes. And certainly not 6 months from now. I've turned back to reading news papers because they print once a day and have to spend their resources on reporting facts unless its the editorial page.

I don't disagree that there is a shift in where people are gathering information from but I do believe its a moving target. People are wising up to social media not being accurate or just plain fake. They will continue to look for sources they can believe...especially when the Donald Trumps and his type of liars continue to exist (I'm looking at you JD). But whether that's cable or some other form of paid journalist (substack and such) people do want reliable information when things look uncertain. The last time Donald Trump was president cable ratings went up.

One thing to keep in mind with cable channels... they make money regardless of whether they have viewers. For example, CNN gets $1 for every cable subscriber. That's before they've sold a single commercial minute. ESPN used to get $4 per cable subscriber. So although their commercials sell for more when they have more viewers...they still make money. Of course as cable viewers go down their income reduces. BUT now people are moving to subscription models and some are subscribing so they can look at sites on their phones.

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I seriously have not watched one news show (including Fox), or read one newspaper in 9 years. They are dinosaurs that are simply going extinct. I am active on X and Substack. Watch podcasts, etc. I am right leaning and will become a subscriber of your site because I truly believe in diversity of thought, which in my opinion is the only diversity that counts.

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Agreed! I was really fascinated by how candidates went on podcasts in 2024 and I predict Presidential candidates will go to alternative news sources like yours in 2028.

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