The Mackerel Wrapper

A weblog for Pete Ellertsen's mass communications students at Benedictine University Springfield.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

COMM 337: More on CNN, branding and straight news

On the Politico.com website, an informative analysis of why CNN is gambling on straight news by replacing conservative firebrand Lou Dobbs with a highly respected, but perhaps colorless, former Associated Press newsman John King. Lots of audience share figures for news shows, commentary on CNN, Fox and the other cable TV networks.

Best quote: “I applaud what they’re doing,” said veteran television journalist Sam Donaldson, ”but if I were an investor, I wouldn’t be holding my breath.”

We need to look at some of the figures and the demographics. This is about ethics, but it's also about business, folks.

Equal time. While we're at Politico.com, let's look at a video clip, too. It shows Sean Hannity acknowledging his show screwed up when it switched rally videos behind his commentary - as pointed out by Jon Stewart - and thanking Stewart for watching. It's about ratings, too.
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About Me

Springfield (Ill.), United States
I'm a retired English, journalism and cultural studies teacher at Springfield College in Illinois (acquired by Benedictine University and subsequently closed). I coordinate jam sessions for the "Clayville Pioneer Academy of Music" at Clayville Historic Site and the Prairieland Strings dulcimer club, and I sing in the choir and the contemporary praise team at Peace Lutheran Church in Springfield. On Hogfiddle I post links and video clips for our sessions and workshops on the mountain dulcimer (a.k.a. "hog fiddle"), as well as research notes on folklore and cultural studies, hymnody and traditional Anglo-Celtic and Scandinavian music. I also posted assignments and readings in my interdisciplinary humanities classes. The Mackerel Wrapper (now on hiatus), carried assignments and readings for my mass comm. students. I started teaching b/log when I chaired SCI-Benedictine's assessment committee, and reopened it as the privatization of public schools grew increasingly troubling and closer to home.