Commentary
Trump's Media Attacks Continue As TV Ad Dollars Rise
- by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, January 8, 2020
Does President Trump have a plan to hurt CNN and other media this year? One report from New York magazine says Trump 's tweets will come fast and furiousin the 2020 presidential election season.
Perhaps Trump doesn’t understand that much of his missives -- regularly revealed as misleading, factually wrong, and/or incendiary -- are having the opposite effect.
But more importantly, for advertising executives, you might call this premium content. Though ratings in 2019 slipped a bit across the board — Fox News (down 2% in total day ratings); CNN (off 8%); and MSNBC (losing 1%) — advertising dollars have grown.
And for CNN -- Trump’s big time target? Back in September, a spokesperson on Twitter said the company is having “the most profitable year in its history.”
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No doubt 2020 will see a rise in viewership versus 2019. Fueling this will be Trump's impeachment trial in the Senate -- or whatever it may be called once it gets going -- which may well extend into the election season. And the dangers with Iran? Whoa.
Manipulation of the TV news cycle by the leader of the free world has its benefits and advantages. But for the historic record, Trump's lies and mistruths now total 15,413, according to The Washington Post.
If Trump really wants to hurt these networks, he should play dull and silent, offering a shrug of the shoulders at best. Think long-term, not short tweets.
In 2018, New Yorker reporter Jane Mayer wrote that Trump called Gary Cohn, director of his National Economic Council, and ordered him to block the merger of AT&T and Time Warner -- trying to put some dings into CNN. Cohn wouldn’t follow the order. Later that year, the Justice Department tried to block the merger, though it lost in court.
So what will Trump do next in the face of a heated election season, the impeachment and higher tensions and/or conflicts with Iran?
More tweets. And separately, some real actions and serious consequences. In that regard, follow the news. And TV news' advertising revenues.
Wayne Friedman is West Coast Editor of MediaPost. You can reach Wayne at wayne@mediapost.com.
Of course it's considered "premium content." Who doesn't love a free show that shows the leader of the free world leading the jackwagon media around by its collective nose ring, and getting great results from it as well.
Every President has engaged in misleading, factually incorrect, and incendiary communications. It's part of the job, goes with the turf. Trump is the first to be honest about and, if it will work for some benefit down the road, JUST THROW IT OUT THERE.
His throw caution to the wind, DON'T put finger to the air to test political winds method helped elect him, and has helped him help us via elimination of really bad deals cut by previous "liars, and mistruthers" and helped get out economy humming again after eight years of tepid recovery by liar, and mistruther Obama.