Kin TV
(Author’s Note: This is the 10th in a series of political articles for CommPRO.biz that I’ll be writing leading up to Election Day. FYI – My first public relations job was with a political firm, where I worked on local, statewide and presidential campaigns. In this column, I opine why cable TV coverage of political news coverage is sub-standard and why, in order to be an informed voter, it is essential to read respected newspapers.)Arthur Solomon
Normally, as readers of my media columns know, I save my criticism of TV political news for the progeny of the networks – the cable stations.
That’s because I believe that cable political shows do a disservice to the American public by not providing context to their reporting and by zeroing in on the most sensational aspect of a story (in addition to telling outright lies by Fox News’ opinion show hosts).What the viewers get is the ice cream cone without the ice cream. And then there is the ridiculous notion that for every Democratic spokesperson there must be a Republican one. All that does is give politicians propaganda talking points platforms without providing any unexpected opinions or hard news. (I used to think the female reporters running after congressmen and senators to get a one-line quote that qualified as reporting, no longer being done because of Covid-19, was the worst aspect of cable political reporting. But then I would hear the commentary of the pundits. But that’s a story for another time. Hint: My aggregate opinion of comments by the political cable pundits: They often make inconsequential comments, but state them well.)
Chris Cuomo’s show on CNN on October 15 provided a prime example of cable news “playing inside baseball” and attempting to create a controversy by having a long discussion regarding Joe Biden’s answers about court packing. Not exactly the issues most Americans care about like health care, Roe v. Wade, jobs, schooling and especially the increasing number of Covid-19 cases. (Also missing from the discussion was the important fact that the Senate has the final say about Supreme Court nominees and could block any president who tries to pack the court by voting candidates down.)
On the day of Cuomo’s program, John Hopkins Coronavirus Resources Center reported 59,494 new cases and 985 new deaths, bringing the total number of deaths in the U.S. to more than 218,000, as coronavirus was spreading with record numbers in many parts of the country. The public evidently doesn’t think Biden’s answers about his stance on packing the Supreme Court is that important, hence his steady lead over Trump. But that didn’t prevent Cuomo from exploiting the issue. (No surprise. Cuomo often attempts to stage-manage an issue in order to create the impression that it’s the most important topic in the world.)
The next day (October 16), The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, two trustworthy news sources with differing editorial page viewpoints, didn’t think Biden’s answers re court packing were worthy of more than a graph or two.
The unvarnished truth is that TV news, both on networks and, especially on its cable kin, main purpose is to entertain so ratings will increase. (That’s why I always advise people to read respected dailies like the Times and Journal, instead of depending on cable TV for the news.)
But October 15 demonstrated that it’s not just the cables that can screw up (check the definition in Merriam-Webster to see that it’s only a dirty word in the minds of people who have dirty minds) political reporting.
And the biggest one of this political season, so far, goes to the National Broadcasting System (NBC).
The network scheduled its town hall with President Trump at the same time that Biden had previously agreed to appear on an ABC town hall. NBC received justified criticism from journalists, even from some of its own, for televising its town hall against ABC’s, thus making certain that half the audience couldn’t see both telecast less than three weeks before Election Day. A cynic may say that NBC deserves a medal instead of criticism because of its decision. By doing so it spared ABC viewers from again hearing the misrepresentations and lies that are the trademark of a Trump presentation. Fact checkers reported that during the NBC town hall Trump stayed true to his version of the facts.
Both performers in the dueling town halls remained on script – Trump, misleading, lying and playing the victim, (“the IRS treats me very bad”) and Biden showing his empathetic side and making certain that each of his answers included Democratic talking points.
(But surely on a day when two competing town hall performances were held there had to be at least one important piece of new political news.
Yes, there was, but it was made by former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, both Republicans, who faulted Trump for his handling of the coronavirus. Sasse, during his own town hall, also called Trump, “a TV-obsessed, narcissistic individual.”
The best performance was that of Savannah Guthrie, host of the NBC program. Her incisive questioning of the president showed why she is wasted on the fluff Today Show.
Ms. Guthrie countered a Trump remark by saying, “I don’t get that, You’re the president. You’re not like someone’s crazy uncle who can just retweet whatever.”
In an entertainment environment like TV, where hosts and reporters hardly ever criticize a politician face-to-face, Ms. Guthrie showed what is missing from today’s television political reporting – not being afraid to challenge comments from important politicians.
But the biggest shock from the dueling town halls was the ratings, which the president was heavily favored to win because his town hall would be seen on three networks. Even though the NBC telecast was simulcast by two of NBC's cable kin, MSNBC and CNBC, and Biden’s town hall televised only on ABC, the former vice president was seen by an average of 14.1 million viewers; Trump’s three station viewership averaged 13.5 million, according to Nielsen. ABC said the event was the network's "most-watched primetime telecast" since its February Oscar’s telecast. (Maybe the president needs new script writers and a new act, but thus far polls show that voters want his act canceled.)
While television news in general has been on a downward spiral since the days of Cronkite, Murrow et al., there is one shining hope – Shepard Smith. Earlier this year Smith (maybe to keep his self-respect) had enough of Fox News and resigned. He recently returned to the television news business with an hour-long program, The News with Shepard Smith on CNBC. The program is the most creative and unique newscast I’ve ever seen. It proves that hard, important news can be presented in a way that is interesting and, yes, enjoyable. Give it a try. It deserves to be on the parent network – the full hour of it.
About the Author: Arthur Solomon, a former journalist, was a senior VP/senior counselor at Burson-Marsteller, and was responsible for restructuring, managing and playing key roles in some of the most significant national and international sports and non-sports programs. He also traveled internationally as a media adviser to high-ranking government officials. He now is a frequent contributor to public relations publications, consults on public relations projects and is on the Seoul Peace Prize nominating committee. He can be reached at arthursolomon4pr (at) juno.com or artsolomon4pr@optimum.net.
