In the aftermath of the protests and riots in Washington, D.C., on January 6, some believe there has been a significant shift in power when it comes to cable news networks as the Biden era begins.
After dominating cable news ratings for two decades, Fox News received “lower TV ratings than both CNN and MSNBC at the same time for the first time since 2000” in the week of the US Capitol riots.
“From Election Day through Inauguration Day, when Democrat Joe Biden was sworn in to succeed Trump as president, CNN was the most-watched cable news network in both total viewers (1.8 million),” reported USA Today. Mediaite reported that “MSNBC was the most-watched network in all of cable” on Friday January 22, with CNN dropping to third overall in prime time.
It should be noted that “all three networks saw their viewership soar” on January 6, “but the CNN and MSNBC bumps far outpaced the one at Fox.” Also, while competitors to Fox like Newsmax and One America News Network seem to have taken a small bite out of Fox News’ viewership, it’s unclear how large an impact this had on the ratings reshuffle, and whether such changes will last.
In response, some conservatives are understandably concerned about the apparent decline in Fox News’ popularity, with the impression that viewers are instead moving over to outlets like CNN or MSNBC. However, it’s important to remember that every network experienced increased viewership during the week of the US Capitol riots, and Fox News only “fell” in the rankings because CNN and MSNBC’s audience increased at a larger rate.
While this should alleviate immediate concerns of Fox News’ status, there is another factor which should worry conservatives and moderates alike which far outweighs something as comparatively unimportant as weekly ratings.
Instead, we should be gravely concerned that a disproportionate number of people rushed to CNN as violence broke out in Washington, D.C., despite years of evidence that the network is often little more than a propaganda wing of the Democratic party.
While Fox News and MSNBC are at least open when it comes to admitting their biases, CNN prides itself on “objectivity.” This same network, whose slogans include “the most trusted name in news,” and “facts first,” actively ignored or suppressed stories throughout Trump’s presidency with the clear intention of promoting a Leftist agenda.
They ignored an unprecedented data leak which uncovered a register of 1.95 million members of the Chinese Communist Party, many of whom were embedded in western governments and companies. They showed little interest when a Chinese spy was found to have “forged ties with Rep. Eric Swalwell while he was a city council member.” They ignored accusations of sexual harassment against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo — whose brother, Chris Cuomo, is an anchor at CNN. Finally, they coordinated with social media and the Democratic party to suppress and discredit the New York Post’s “laptop” story regarding Hunter Biden’s alleged corruption.
Even more shocking, as violent riots broke out across the country, CNN — again, “facts first” — oscillated between ignoring the violence or defending such despicable actions. Chyrons were famously changed in real time to remove problematic language, and Don Lemon justified the violence, saying that the movement behind the destruction of businesses, homes, and government proprietary was “built on people, on racial justice, on criminal justice, right, on reform, on police not beating up — or police treating people of color differently than they do whites.”
And this is without even mentioning their obsessive coverage of the Russian collusion hoax, constant rhetoric presenting Trump as a white supremacist, or their willingness to provide even the most unreliable guest with a platform — i.e. Michael Avenatti — if they used it to criticize conservatives.
CNN are demonstrable liars, using their false status as objective reporters to bury their audience members in Democratic party propaganda.
It’s not worrying in itself that CNN were ahead of Fox News in recent ratings, however temporarily. It’s terrifying that, after four years of journalistic malfeasance, viewers in search of truth still rush to hear what Don Lemon, Chris Cuomo, and Brian Stelter have to say.
Apparently, when CNN asks its viewers to ignore their own lying eyes, they are all too happy to oblige.
Ian Haworth is an Editor and Writer for The Daily Wire. Follow him on Twitter at @ighaworth.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.