With news consumers continuing to lose faith in news outlets, WMAL host Vince Coglianese wonders why there hasn’t been a shift in strategy from some of the organizations that have seen dwindling audiences in recent years.
While discussing the coverage surrounding the trial of former President Donald Trump with NewsBusters Managing Editor Curtis Houck, the guest told Coglianese that NBC Nightly News has had the story as the lead 16 times. When The Vince Coglianese Show host heard that figure, he questioned why news organizations haven’t recognized the loss of credibility from their viewers.
“They’re just like the band on the Titanic. They’re just gonna keep playing the same song as the ship goes down. Why not change strategy? If I was running a news operation — if I was one of the broadcast networks, and I was watching my audience dwindle, and I was thinking of what can I do to change pace here and succeed as a business — I would think maybe start telling the truth would be a good way to do it,” said Coglianese. “Because then people would be like, ‘I have faith in that product,’ and my audience would grow. Maybe that’s an old fashioned notion.”
The criticism from Coglianese about the lack of changes from news media organizations coincides with recent reports that CNN’s primetime ratings have dropped to 30-year lows in the coveted Persons 25-54 demographic. CNN, like many other news outlets, has spent extensive time covering the court proceedings of the former President.
