Tea Party Media Coverage Shows How Far Liberal Networks Have Fallen: Their New Format Sucks

The liberals seem to be very upset that their "monopoly" on grass-roots movements was thrown into the toilet. The Tea Parties went ahead as planned, and all the liberal media could do was criticize the people who went there, call them a bunch of racists, and make sex jokes.

It shows how inept the media has become.

While conservative media outlets dutifully covered liberal protests, like the Sheehan protests at former President Bush's ranch in Texas and the 700,000 out of a million-man march, and other liberal "grass-roots" (rent-a-mob) protests, such as the illegal-immigration protests, the liberal media didn't even cover the Tea Parties from a neutral standpoint.

MSNBC and CNN took the lead in denouncing the Tea Parties as white power racist protests against President Obama. I saw a lot of non-whites at the Michigan Tea Parties. Are they racists too?

MSNBC isn't even reporting the news anymore; the paradigm has shifted so radically there that it makes Fox News look like a pure news program with it's mix of news and personality-based political programs.

This pure aggression coming from MSNBC and the other liberal outlets won't help their ratings; it will appeal only to their own audiences. To prove the point, take a look at the ratings from April 15th: (credit: tvbythenumbers.com)

Live + Same Day Cable News Daily Ratings for April 15, 2009

P2+ = viewers over the age of 2

(25-54) = Adults 25-54 viewing

(35-64) = Adults 35-64 viewing

Prime Time = 8-11pm

LIVE+SD: The number that watched a program either while it was broadcast OR watched via DVR on the same day [through 3AM the next day] the program was broadcast. For more information see Numbers 101.

1. Scratch = when a show’s audience fails to meet minimum Nielsen reporting levels. For more information go here.

P2+ Total Day
FNC – 1,589,000 viewers
CNN – 711,000 viewers
MSNBC –479,000 viewers
CNBC – 249,000 viewers
HLN – 400,000 viewers

P2+ Prime Time
FNC – 3,390,000 viewers
CNN—1,070,000 viewers
MSNBC –1,210,000 viewers
CNBC – 167,000 viewers
HLN – 909,000 viewers

25-54 Total Day
FNC –444,000 viewers
CNN –207,000 viewers
MSNBC –150,000 viewers
CNBC –59,000 viewers
HLN- 173,000 viewers

25-54 Prime Time
FNC – 864,000 viewers
CNN –290,000 viewers
MSNBC –388,000 viewers
CNBC – a scratch w/ 45,000 viewers
HLN – 334,000 viewers

35-64 Total Day
FNC –732,000 viewers
CNN –321,000 viewers
MSNBC –241,000 viewers
CNBC –111,000 viewers
HLN- 217,000 viewers

35-64 Prime Time
FNC –1,406,000 viewers
CNN – 404,000 viewers
MSNBC –603,000 viewers
CNBC –86,000 viewers
HLN –487,000 viewers

Morning programs (6:00AM-9:00AM) P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
FOX & Friends –1,049,000 viewers (335,000) (581,000)
American Morning- 518,000 viewers (202,000) (305,000)
Morning Joe-395,000 viewers (119,000) (200,000)
Squawk Box-210,000 viewers (53,000) (120,000)
Morning Express w/ Meade- 348,000 viewers (162,000) (198,000)

6PM - P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
Special Report w/Bret Baier – 2,401,000 viewers (541,000) (1,927,000)
Situation Room—942,000 viewers (280,000) (427,000)
Ed Show —563,000 viewers (118,000) (233,000)
Mad Money—228,000 viewers (75,000) (111,000)
Prime News—341,000 viewers (135,000) (199,000)

7PM - P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
Fox Report w/Shepard Smith– 2,185 ,000 viewers (531,000) (943,000)
Lou Dobbs –870,000 viewers (265,000) (426,000)
Hardball w/Chris Matthews—737,000 viewers (182,000) (321,000)
Kudlow Report —238,000 viewers (62,000) (123,000)
Issues– 644,000 viewers (226,000) (329,000)

8PM - P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
O’Reilly Factor —3,980,000 viewers (927,000) (1,623,000)
Campbell Brown—892,000 viewers (209,000) (346,000)
Countdown w/Keith Olbermann —1,499,000 viewers (483,000) (707,000)
CNBC Reports – 203,000 viewers (53,000) (95,000)
Nancy Grace –1,336,000 viewers (454,000) (669,000)

9 PM - P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
Hannity– 3,239,000 viewers (866,000) (1,348,000)
Larry King Live—1,292,000 viewers (349,000) (449,000)
Rachel Maddow Show —1,149,000 viewers (363,000) (550,000)
American Greed—198,000 viewers (95,000) (a scratch w/ 48,000)
Lou Dobbs Tonight- 590,000 viewers (327,000) (189,000)

10 PM P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
On the Record w/Greta—2,947,000 viewers (799,000) (1,243,000)
Anderson Cooper—1,026,000 viewers (311,000) (417,000)
Countdown w/Keith Olbermann —981,000 viewers (317,000) (552,000)
On the Money – a scratch w/ 99,000 viewers, (a scratch w/ 33,000) (69,000)
Nancy Grace –848,000 viewers (379,000) (492,000)

11 PM P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
O’Reilly Factor —2,090 ,000 viewers (741,000) (1,063,000)
Anderson Cooper—663,000 viewers (214,000) (286,000)
Rachel Maddow Show –609,000 viewers (231,000) (354,000)
Mad Money—a scratch w/89,000 viewers (a scratch w/ 35,000) (a scratch w/ 50,000)
Showbiz Tonight– 561,000 viewers (290,000) (308,000)

For other days cable news ratings click here.

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Judging by the above numbers, the liberals need to change their tactics. After all, they created the very environment that Fox News now excels in, due to their catering their programs to liberal Democrats and trying to demonize the other side. And all they can do is CRY about Fox News and the success that it enjoys.

But the new format that they seem to have adopted will backfire. We really need the networks to get back to reporting the news AS-IS, without fanfare and without Nancy Grace-ing it to DEATH.

Where Does Obama Stand on Slave Reparations?

President-elect Obama hasn't made his stance on slave reparations clear yet, as he hasn't made his position clear on a great many issues.

According to NewsMax, Obama was opposed to slave reparations before he ran for Congress; after he was elected to the U.S. Senate, he stated that he was opposed to "...just signing over checks to African-Americans," which is a lot different than opposing the concept outright as he was before.

Where does he stand now?

I am opposed to court-ordered reparations, as the statute of limitations has LONG expired for slavery, which ended in 1865. Doing it in 1868 would have been better than in 2008, as it would have helped the direct victims of slavery. It's too late now.

And if American taxpayers will be called upon to pay reparations, does that mean that the decendents of Union soldiers who died during the Civil War to free the slaves will be made to pay as well? Is that fair?

I have other objections that I'm not going to get into now, but I think that Obama coming in on the side of the slave reparations crowd will fire up the kind of people who have already been arrested for plotting an assassination attempt.

And I agree with the Libertarian Party, in the assessment that a serious attempt to hand out checks to slave decendents for wrongs committed by a part of the population, long dead, will actually increase racism, rather than bury it. I think there's quite enough to be getting on with, without adding this complication.

Burying the "N" Word: Symbolic Move Won't Stop Rappers, Racists or Drunks from Using Racial Slur

The symbolic burial of the "n" word in various cities around the country won't change a thing.

Rappers, racists and drunks will continue to use the divisive term at will and with relish. Upset comics and various celebrities will, too, as we've already seen. The mock burials should not be seen as anything but symbolic, until public perceptions of the damage the word does becomes much more widespread. We're only hearing this from one part of the population, and stunts like this do nothing to change the perception that this is a problem for our entire society, and not just the African-American communities.

Eliminating this vulgar term from entertainment alone is nothing but window dressing which covers up a much bigger problem. Racism doesn't reside in entertainment alone; and the NAACP has unwisely focused too much of it's attention there, and on this one word.

Many words can be put together to describe someone based on their skin color, religious belief, and other things which set people apart from one another that are just as harmful as the "n" word. Consider Don Imus's words. I had to look up part of the term he used to understand what he meant.

Racism is more than words, and affects more than one group of people. Burying one word won't do anything to change it.

MSNBC's Don Imus in Big Trouble: So What Else is New?

Many of the news channels have been following the antics of Don Imus today, for calling a women's basketball team a racist term, which I will not post here.

CBS and MSNBC announced that they were suspending the Imus show for two weeks as a disciplinary action.

I have a question...why did CBS and MSNBC have this man on the air at all, given his prior controversies? He's been referred to as the "Howard Stern of intelligent people," though he's had a public feud with Stern for years--in particular a vicious exchange on the air in 2003.

The man is a lightning rod for controversy.

Yet the two companies had him on both radio and on TV in simulcast.

Imus went on Rev. Al Sharpton's radio program this morning (a huge mistake), but made little headway in calming the raging inferno, as Sharpton's thirst for revenge neutralized his efforts. Sharpton's now calling for a boycott of all advertisers who advertise on the Imus show.

Later on in the day, the networks suspended Imus.

Imus's comments WERE way over the line, but Sharpton's handling of the situation on his show made the situation worse; what happened to forgiveness of others?

All Sharpton wanted was to get Imus fired, or better yet, to have Imus sign a resignation letter in his presence and on the air. It didn't happen, so he decided to add his two cents (and more) to the controversy.

There's no winner in this controversy; not CBS, MSNBC, Imus, Sharpton, or the people who were insulted by the racist comments that Imus made.