Today I watched the CNN Newsroom and the Fox Newsroom from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM. Ah, the modern marvels of DVR! I wanted to see how the stories that were being presented at the same time overlapped with one another and the different ways in which they were presented. I found that through the hour, both news stations covered many different stories, but only five of them contained similar content (discounting the weather). Of those five, only three were presented in a significantly different fashion.
Both stations discussed the Republican party's desire to change their image. CNN covered the story from a skeptical, bordering on mocking perspective. Both stations described a Town Hall meeting led by Eric Cantor, a young House Republican and growing force in the Republican Party. CNN focused on how badly Republicans are doing in the polls and how they desperately need a new image. They even implied that they are utilizing the same tactics Obama did in the hopes of gaining some popularity. CNN also pointed out that the Republican party is at an all time low as far as popularity. They went on to state that this initiative, the Nashville Council for America, is officially declared as a nonpartisan initiative, although all of supporters the appear to be republicans. They are going around America trying to a more positive message for the country and a more positive image for the party. CNN ended the segment by adding that the Democrats are calling the Republicans the party of "No". Fox's coverage of the issue was focused more on the future of the Republican party. I was surprised that the Fox anchors did seem skeptical of Representative Cantor's efforts and mentioned that perhaps the party leadership should focus on other prominent members of the party. Fox news generally portrayed the pizza party as a positive effort, much more so than CNN. Fox did mention that the Republican electorate is shrinking and changes do have to be made to the Republican party if it hopes to have the future Fox was so focused on.
Both news stations also spoke about mourning the loss of former Congressman Jack Kemp. Fox news spent a few minutes praising former Congressman Kemp and tracing his career all the way back from when he was a college football player. Fox called him a "champion of Conservatism, a crusader for lower taxes who helped inspire President Reagan and a leader who helped shape and strengthen the Republican party." Their coverage was in depth and actually seemed sincere. CNN on the other hand spent probably a minute or less on the story just stating that former Congressman Jack Kemp passed away last night from cancer at the age of seventy-three. They briefly discussed his career and stated that lots of tributes "from both sides of the aisle" were coming in about him. They then aired President Obama's letter of condolences, which spoke about former Congressman Kemp in high regard. However, after watching both, it seemed as if, in comparison to Fox, CNN had rushed through the issue and did not give him adequate attention. Although, CNN also covered the untimely death of Reverend Vernon King, the nephew of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.. He passed away at 48 years old, in Greensboro, North Carolina, and there was still no word on cause of death. Fox news did not even report this story.
Finally, both news shows addressed some aspect of President Obama's current administration. While CNN was singing President Obama's praises, Fox news in essence attempted to tear him apart (I wonder if that is what they do every night). CNN reported on President Obama's scheduled meetings for the upcoming week and the big decision to be made with regard to a Supreme Court nomination. The coverage about President Obama was all very positive, which is to be expected I suppose. Even if there were significant, measurable problems with Obama's policies up to this point, I do not think that CNN would be covering them. However, the Fox news coverage of Obama was exactly the opposite. It was as if they were trying to create an issue where there was none to report on. The anchor began the segment by stating that President Obama spent his first three months in office saying he inherited all these problems from the Bush Administration. She then posed the question: Is it time for President Obama to start accepting responsibility if things do not turn around? Then with a huge grin on her face she said that she believed that time came last week, and asked the Fox news correspondents (one Democrat and one Republican) to weigh in. This basically turned into a back and forth between these two correspondents, with the two Republicans getting more and more excited (visibly) at the idea that with a super majority in Congress and power in the Executive branch, the Democratic party will start getting blamed for some of the mess the country is in. The Republicans of course stated that Obama is not taking any responsibility that none of his plans have helped the economy out of turmoil yet. At that point you could see that the Democrat was getting more and more frustrated that they would not let him talk. When they finally did let him speak, he said one hundred days is too early to assess President Obama's programs and how they are working; to give him more time. At that point the Republican correspondent started going on about how Democrats all blame Bush for all the ails of the world and that the Obama supporters will find a way to blame Republicans when none of Obama's plans work. By the end, both correspondents were speaking over each other and the anchor eventually had to cut them off. This childish display was embarrassing in my opinion, to all three parties involved. It was obvious before they even started speaking where each of them stood on this issue, and they all ended up looking very unprofessional.
I just realized that I really do not like partisan news coverage. I am aware that completely objective news does not interest most people, (I can not even guarantee that it would interest me fully) but I believe that the extreme nature of these news stations is out of control. I do not mind if there is some leaning in the news I receive, but when it is so focused on blatant digs at the other party, the sense that the information you are receiving is legitimate is completely lost. When the news is centered primarily on benefiting one party and hurting the other, the stories get further and further from the truth. In this situation both sides are only obtaining propaganda, and being distracted more and more from the issues that really matter. That is a scenario I am simply unwilling to support.
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