The Gulf War made CNN. The Iraq War made Fox News. Being fixated on a single event has historically proven fruitful for national news networks. When the wars (their viewership cares about) are over, the problem becomes keeping the audience while satisfying their own obsessions. Thus creating the biased media monsters we have today.
If you’ve watched CNN, FOX, or any other 24-hour news channel this week (or really the last three weeks) 85-95% of what you’ve seen has been the Trump trial. As nauseating as it is for the field crews (photographers, editors, etc.) to be at the courthouse every day, it is even more nauseating for the viewer. The 24-hour news cycle might work for radio and digital outlets (because it is less expensive), but it does not work for TV unless it is local news.
With at least three anchors, some MMJ’s, and a handful of reporters, photographers, assignment editors, video editors, and writers you can make a 24-hour news station. In fact, most local TV stations could do it now, provided they work off of a wheel. Meaning, they produce 1-2 hours of content and re-air it throughout the day.
This is how Time Warner Cable and Cablevision (yes, they are both gone but they originated this idea for local news) created successful 24-hour local outlets like NY1 and News 12. The simplicity of the news you need to know at your convenience is easy for the viewer. There is no scavenging for content or a last-minute guest.
Financially, it is also less of a burden because these outlets rarely have to pay travel expenses as everything is local. The few live shows they do have are granted an enormous amount of resources because they have not wasted time trying to fill the full day with constant live content.
National 24-hour outlets are not set up this way. There are multiple anchors, multiple shows, and multiple teams. Reporters and their photographers have a consistent need for travel within their assigned region. It can be a logistical hassle at times, yet miracles happen every day, and shows go on the air. However, because the area the national outlets cover is so vast, they need to selectively pick a few stories that affect many. It is also why national outlets become fixated on stories.
To put it simply, it is too expensive to have the right amount of resources to fill a full 24-hour news cycle with multiple dynamic stories. Instead, outlets often choose one or two (three if it’s a “Q-word” news day) to pour all their resources into. They prop up a few pundits — because opinion is everywhere and cheap to produce — to speak on the one story they are fixated on.
National outlets then put a spin on it to now be “viewer-conscious” or “voter-conscious.” Meaning they are taking actual news and twisting it to fit a narrative. just take a look:
CNN: Criminal defense attorney says Trump’s defense team made a tactical mistake
This is strictly opinion. In the video you hear Stacy Schneider say “You can see he forced his lawyer.” She says it as if she knows this for a fact, later adding “Most defense attorneys would not have touched what happened in that hotel room.”
Schneider makes it sound like she’s talked to the defense attorney. I guarantee you she has not. She is making these comments as if she was his lawyer and if there is one thing both sides can agree on it is President Trump would not hire “most defense attorneys.” This is political pandering.
Fox: Jeanine Pirro rips NY judge in Trump’s criminal case: ‘In the tank for Biden’
Judge Pirro initially breaking down (or in her words “set the table” on) what the jury has heard so far, is good fact-based knowledge for the viewer. Then she says, “This judge is in the tank for the Biden administration” thus amping up the right’s provoking claims of a “witch hunt” against Donald Trump. This is once again opinion seasoned with some facts.
Newsmax: Jesse Binnall to Newsmax: Trump’s Civil Rights Violated
First, anyone on the left will find Binnall’s claims of President Trump’s civil rights being violated laughable – just a keynote: They are not making “real news for real people.” Yes, the outlet does present a fact, under oath a paralegal admitted three pages of call records deleted by Manhattan D.A’s office. Both Binnall and former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, add conjecture on what they think the judge should have done.
Truthfully, it’s not up to them. If there is a conviction and Trump’s attorneys file an appeal, it’s up to the appeal process to decide if the conviction is overturned. After covering court cases for 10 years, there is one very distinct thing I’ve learned: In most cases (especially high-profile ones), there is always room for an appeal because the law is not as definitive as everyone believes.
MSNBC: ‘Plethora of people’ around Donald Trump that are ‘willing to lie for him’: Defense attorney
This clip starts out talking about defense strategy. It’s great for viewers who wished they’d become a lawyer and then around the 2:30 mark of this clip we hear “There are a plethora of people around Donald Trump who are willing to lie for him,” this includes Michael Cohen.
Not only is Defense Attorney Jeff Jacobovitz assuming people are willing to lie and go to jail for President Trump, but he is also excusing the behavior of Cohen. Thus pandering the left’s reasoning to “lock him up.”
When there is no actual physical war going on, cable news outlets turn to the war of the mind, manipulating their viewers and further dividing this country. There are countless other stories to cover during the day, most of which never make national airwaves because the networks are less fixated on news and more attentive to the narratives that suit them.
In their current obsession with the Trump case, the media is not letting the jury decide. Instead, all of the headlines, comments from pundits, and leading questions from anchors are stirring up their base which in turn will cause outrage if the base does not receive their expected outcome.
I am tired of writing about Trump, hearing about Stormy Daniels, and having legal “analysts/experts” give their opinions about the case. Let me be explicitly clear, as I’ve said before, I’m not saying don’t cover the trial. Instead, what outlets should be doing is a one-minute 15-second straight news report on what happened in court today so we can move on to other news.
Krystina Alarcon Carroll is a news media columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. She has experience in almost every facet of the industry including: digital and print news; live, streamed, and syndicated TV; documentary and film productions. Her prior employers have included NY1 and Fox News Digital and the Law & Crime Network. You can find Krystina on X (formerly twitter) @KrystinaAlaCarr.
