Week 1: Assignment and Response to Classmates

FridayOct 6 at 12:07am

Manage Discussion Entry

The network MSNBC network is operated by COMCAST. In 2009, COMCAST "acquired a 51 percent" ownership stake in NBC Universal from General Electric (Adegoke & Levine, 2011). The cable news network is part of the larger news, sports, and entertainment programming selection that comprises NBC and its affiliates. The network also broadcasts the Olympic Games every two years (winter and summer).

The cable news network has long billed itself as a liberal/politically left-leaning news network. As a 2012 New York Times article described, "MSNBC has pumped up its ratings by recasting itself as a left-leaning riposte to Fox News, and that's fine. Fox long ago proved that a lot of viewers like to hear cable anchors echo what they already think; MSNBC is just playing catch-up" (Stanley, para. 3). Catering to one segment of the population is a business decision. The network is betting on consumer loyalty from those viewers that are Democratic and anti-Fox News.

As the textbook states, "Consequently, the bulk of news media fare, especially on television, is geared tosimple, emotion-laden programming that attracts large, diverse audiences. Controversial or troublesome issuesthat may antagonize or deplete media audiences and diminish advertising revenues are largely shunned"� (Graber & Dunaway, 2015, p.2.1, para 4). In other words, MSNBC and its parent company knows what its audience wants and is happy to deliver.

- Joel Seppala

References

Adegoke, Y., Levine, D (2011, January 29). Comcast completes NBC Universal Merger. Reuters. Retrieved from http://www.reuters.com/article/us-comcast-nbc/comcast-completes-nbc-universal-merger-idUSTRE70S2WZ20110129

Graber, D., Dunaway, J. (2015). Mass Media and American Politics, Ninth Ed. Sage Publications, Inc:Â Thousand Oaks, California.

Stanley, A. (2012, August 31). How MSNBC Became Fox’s Liberal Evil Twin. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/31/us/politics/msnbc-as-foxs-liberal-evil-twin.html