Move over “Must-See TV,” now there’s “Mandatory TV.”
At least that’s what CNN’s “Chief Media Correspondent” Brian Stelter thinks.
See, the trial for the Minneapolis police officer who restrained George Floyd is going on right now. And apparently, you are a bad person if you’re not tuning in to watch it.
In his “Reliable Sources” newsletter last night, Brian bemoaned the fact that a large segment of the population is not tuning in to what he believes is Mandatory TV:
Part of America is watching the Derek Chauvin murder trial and sharing in the pain of George Floyd’s family members. And another part of America is tuning out the case.That’s my impression after four days of raw, emotional testimony and graphic video exhibits. At times it’s been excruciating to watch — which is precisely why it should be watched. “George Floyd was all of us,” Don Lemon said on “CNN Tonight” just now.
“Which is precisely why it should be watched.”
Should be.
Since when does a cable news corporation get to demand we watch their coverage?
This isn’t “A Clockwork Orange” for crap’s sake.
And how in Lucifer’s reach does Brian know that “part of America” is “sharing in the pain of George Floyd’s family members?” Maybe part of that part of America is watching hoping the police officer is acquitted. Perhaps they think this circus is over-the-top and they’re hoping the case falls apart like a cheap sweater in the spin cycle. Nielsen’s ratings don’t gauge WHY people are watching – only IF people are watching.
Now, I get it; I do.
CNN’s ratings are in the toilet and they hope to regain some of their lost viewers by broadcasting every single second of this trial.
But it is contemptible that Stelter would treat not watching it as some kind of moral failing.
And naturally Brian puts the blame squarely at the feet of Fox News – because of course he does.
Fox News, on the other hand, is barely airing the trial live or covering the hourly developments. When I searched TVEyes for mentions of Floyd on Thursday through 9pm, Fox only showed 13 results, versus 98 for MSNBC and 119 for CNN. That’s why I commented that only part of America is compelled to watch this trial…
“That’s why I commented that only part of America is compelled to watch this trial.” Good grief. What a little prig.
Brian is like the kid who sneaks a peek to see if everybody else has their eyes closed during prayer, and if someone doesn’t, tattles to Mom.
Well, I’m not a Fox News viewer. And I’m not watching this Mandatory TV trial. Why the hell should I?
This might come as a shock to Brian Stelter and the rest of the provincial goobers at CNN, but other things are happening in the world.
Our Southern border is under invasion.
Biden is planning a so-called “infrastructure” bill that is a Democrat Socialist’s wet dream, and would utterly destroy our economy and drive us further into crushing debt.
Russia has begun a military buildup along the border with Ukraine. Clearly Putin doesn’t fear the Biden Administration (with reason). So he’s exploiting America’s current fecklessness to take a larger chunk of his neighbor to the West.
And don’t even get me started on China.
It isn’t as if CNN couldn’t find something else to fill their 24 hours of programming.
But they won’t turn away. And they don’t want you turning away away either — not because this trial is the most important thing in the universe. No, not at all. Brian’s real reason for wanting this to be Mandatory TV is right there in his dippy newsletter:
Nielsen TV ratings are reflecting widespread interest in the trial. On a typical weekday CNN’s most-watched programs are at night, when more people are at home and available to tune in, but this week CNN’s most-watched hour on Monday was 3pm ET; on Tuesday, 5pm; and on Wednesday, 12pm. Those times all correlated with key periods of testimony in the trial. MSNBC and HLN are also seeing ratings bumps during trial coverage.
It has nothing to do with “sharing the pain of George Floyd’s family members.”
It has everything to do with ratings and advertiser dollars.
And don’t doubt me on this one. CNN is hoping like hell for an acquittal. Because with an acquittal will come another wave of riots.
And riots are ratings gold.
It’s perverse, really.
And I won’t play along with Brian Stelter’s Mandatory TV.
Neither should you.