The Last March Of The Dinosaurs: The Death Of Network News

by Hugh Hewitt - October 18th, 2007 - Townhall.com

Howard Kurtz is the Washington Post's media critic and host of CNN's Reliable Sources. Kurtz is also the author of the just published Reality Show: Inside The Last Great Television News War. This is a detailed and often riveting account of the unexpectedly rapid and often dramatic transition from the network anchor era of Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings and Dan Rather to the new "big three" of Charlie Gibson, Brian Williams and Katie Couric. From the high point of the first big three to the week just finishing, the networks lost about 30 million viewers, and now welcome a combined audience of less than 25 million each night. Reality Show is a chronicle of decline, long on the details of what happened, not so long on the why.

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There are many themes in Reality Show, but only one conclusion: The nets can't change their DNA, and that DNA isn't meant for the world of new media. They are slow when the new media is fast. They are hyper-liberal in an era where the center-right can shop for news and the radical left won't accept even the hyper-liberal as other than sell-outs.

The Network News is dying but that does not mean that they don't have influence. However a key point is that 25 million may be less than half their earlier audience but it is at a time when the population has doubled. That 25 million is 25% of their former influence and they hate it. That is one reason the Nework Newws (and all of the MSM) reports in a fashion to stir up the partisan wars that are going on in America.

They sneer at conservatives and libertarians. They encourage their audience to sneer at conservatives and libertarians. Then they turn around and wonder why there is a strong audience for Ann Coulter and her attitude of sneering back?

There will be no end to the current state of perpetual hate between Democrats and Republicans as long as the MSM and the network news continue to foment a war against conservatives, libertarians, Christians, patriots and anyone who is not a committed socialist. The MSM does not seem all that concerned about the war against the Islamofascists since they are already committed to a war they see as much more important.

What really confuses them is that their hatred is returned by over half of America. This they don't understand. There was a time when if they banished you, you went away. Losing that power has left them frustrated beyond belief.