CNN, the Arbiter of Credibility and Non-partisanship

During a dog-and-pony show held for advertisers and their Madison Avenue agencies this week, CNN executives touted their network as the lone objective news source on cable. CNN Worldwide President Jim Walton told the advertisers, “We are the only credible, non-partisan voice left, and that matters. “ His assertion was echoed by CNN US President Jonathan Klein who said, “Our mission, our mandate, is to deliver the best journalism in the world, which puts us in a category of one.“

So just how credible and non-partisan is CNN when its news anchors smeared everyone participating in the Tea Party movement and rallies as “teabaggers,” fact-checked a comedy skit on Saturday Night Live, and claimed Sarah Palin was an unfit mother? The answer to that is in the numbers.

CNN’s viewership plummeted 30 percent in 2009. An average of 891,000 viewers tuned in during prime time programming. Ad revenue declined a modest one percent last year, but the network derives the majority of its revenue from cable subscription fees, not advertising. Additionally, CNN combines its financial results with those of sister network Headline News, so the decline may be even greater.

Compare CNN’s numbers to powerhouse Fox News, which generated a whopping 14 percent increase in ad revenue in 2009. FNC’s prime-time median viewership also climbed 19 percent to 2.13 million.

CNN executives can talk all they want about credibility and non-partisanship, but the truth is in the numbers. People don’t tune in to news and commentary they consider biased, offensive or dishonest. In the long run, advertisers are unlikely to continue spending their shrinking marketing dollars with an outlet that can’t deliver an audience, and CNN will continue its downhill slide into oblivion.