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| Mail from the Nielsen Company which measures TV audience viewership. (Photo by Michael Styne) |
By Joshua Krause
As the May ratings for the 4 major news networks come in, it’s never been more apparent that the mainstream media is in its death throes. According to a recent article from Politico, Fox News is faced with its lowest numbers in over a decade. While the networks continue to maintain enough viewers to stay afloat, they have absolutely failed to attain the younger demographic.
Another key factor coming from May ratings is just how old Fox News viewers are. Take for example, Bill O’Reilly’s show…O’Reilly had his lowest month since 2001 in the key demo, with 308,000 viewers. Yes, O’Reilly is still the No. 1 program in cable news in both total and demo viewers, averaging 2,136,000 total viewers in May. But the majority of those viewers are over the age of 55. In fact, the median age for O’Reilly is now just over 72 years old. The average Fox News viewer overall is 68.8, while the average ages of MSNBC and CNN viewers were 62.5 and 62.8, respectively.Simply put, the largest news networks are hemorrhaging viewers, and most of what’s left are now senior citizens. If any institution is going to survive, it of course needs younger adherents. And this is not an abnormal year.
Breitbart reported an almost identical story two years ago for the month of May. This is a clear and long-term trend of decline. And it isn’t just television news of course. Print media is likely on its way out as well, with only about a quarter of the population saying they have confidence in newspapers. 152 newspapers were shutdown in 2011 alone. Though I couldn’t find any more recent data, I suspect last year wasn’t much better.
Honestly, it’s an exciting trend to me. The mainstream media has failed to inform us on so many levels. You can pick any day or week of the year, and observe the most trending news items littering our television screens. What you’ll find is a news media that desperately holds onto any celebrity gossip for days on end, and lies through its teeth at every opportunity. Look at what they did this week. They failed to report on the possibly earth-shaking events that could unfold from a yearly meeting of the most powerful and influential people on earth. If they can’t do that, then what are they good for?
The lies are the most telling of all. For most of my life, I was told that the media is only concerned about ratings. “If it bleeds it leads” or something to that effect. I was led to believe that a news organization would do anything for ratings, but perhaps that isn’t exactly so. If all they cared about was being seen and heard, why are their ratings in the toilet?..
If you’re reading this right now, you probably already know. There’s a good chance you’ve at least partially abandoned television and print media. You know deep down that it can’t be trusted. You know it’s not just about ratings. If numbers were all that a multi-billion dollar industry needed to survive, they could do it. It’s not that hard. Just tell the truth. The world is a baffling and complicated place, teeming with mystery and beauty. We’re on a rock hurdling through space with billions of people living on its surface, and not one of them is identical to another. The world is an unlimited tap of incredible technological advances, political intrigue, wild natural phenomena, and an endless parade creative and courageous people.
The truth of our world is filled with awe and wonder. They could get all the ratings they could possibly dream of, if they just told the truth. And, yet, from the school textbooks of our formative years, to the talking heads of our adult lives, every source of mainstream information appears to be a sanitized version of the truth, or even an outright lie.
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