The cable news industry says coverage of attempted coup was must-see-TV

Still more work to be done to regain trust, no matter how many people watch

The Trump administration has been great for the news media. (Prior to the coronavirus.) Subscriptions, ratings, and traffic have been up; political advertising, as the New York Times wrote in November, “has been a gold mine.” 

But the administration also started with a lie about crowd sizes, and yesterday, after 24-hours in Twitter jail, the president posted a video that within 11-seconds told a whopper of a lie: that he “immediately deployed the National Guard and federal law enforcement to secure the building and expel the intruders.” (He didn’t send anyone in until significant damage was already done.)

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump

The video has 36 million views. 

The world watched American democracy fall to its knees on Wednesday, and the cable news networks on Thursday were dutifully here to remind the industry just how many people tuned into Attempted Coup 2021! 

As we talked about near the election, the media industry is very good at turning big news events into stories about journalists and media. The siege of the Capitol was no exception.

Press releases from news networks and measurement companies were sent yesterday to reporters touting record numbers. 

Mediapost: 
Nonstop news coverage of the U.S. Capitol siege by supporters of President Trump rocketed daytime Wednesday viewing to historic numbers.

Adweek:
Americans flocked to CNN in record numbers on Wednesday to watch the horrific scenes from the United States Capitol, as a violent mob of the President’s supporters broke into the Capitol building with the intent of stopping electoral college votes from being counted.

Bloomberg:
CNN had the most-watched day in its history, with viewers flocking to the channel’s coverage of a mob of Trump supporters storming the U.S. Capitol.

Forbes:
The dramatic scenes of rioters forcing their way past police and into the United States Capitol Wednesday drew huge audiences to cable and broadcast news networks, with CNN drawing the largest overall audience. 

L.A. Times:
Fox News is typically the most-watched news network, with 2020 being the best year in its history. But many of its conservative-leaning viewers tend to tune out when there is bad news about President Trump, and on Wednesday — when some of his supporters rioted inside the Capitol in Washington — it could not have been worse. CNN was the network of choice during the height of the attack, according to Nielsen data. 

You get the drift.

The only people that care about network ratings, and how many people watched an event (even if that event was the destruction of society -- quick aside, CNN’s most-watched events before Wednesday’s Capitol invasion was: 9/11, the 2008 election, the 2016 election) are network executives looking to ultimately sell something—whether it’s a proof point for the brand (“most watched primetime show!” “highest rated morning news program!) or advertising inventory. 

Every network sending out press releases about TV ratings of an attempted coup is the very definition of cynical. At least we didn’t get segment theme music or fancy chyrons. 

I get the need to inform media partners how many people are watching your network. But is it necessary to send out numbers immediately? 

The better way for media companies to turn the story of the day inward is to focus on the reporters on the ground, who had to bob and weave against a crowd who wrote literal messages of “murder the media.” 

Trump supporters, who have been on the receiving end of “fake media” and “media is the enemy of the people” messages for years from the president and his acolytes, make media the target, if not a part of the story. 

Sarah Lawrynuik @SarahLawrynuik

The results of crying “fake news” for six years.

Shomari Stone @shomaristone

BREAKING. Mob of Trump supporters swarm the media near the US Capitol. They yell what Trump frequently says, “the media is the enemy of the people.” They destroy equipment and chased out reporters. I’ve never seen anything like this in my 20 year career: @nbcwashington @MSNBC https://t.co/3VLC07JQR2

The Hollywood Reporter and Adweek each have good as-told-to stories, and I imagine in the days and weeks to follow, more will come. 

And since the cameras were turned off in the Capitol, photojournalism will become even more important to understand this shameful moment. This is perhaps the best thing I read on the picture of the Confederate flag in the halls of Congress.

The Trump administration will end in disgrace, one that was perpetuated by a conservative news media ecosystem that used a venal and vile narcissist to promote a conservative ideology, only to not pay attention to, or care about, the consequences of handing the reins of a political party to a person who doesn’t care for politics, just himself. 

As The Washington Post’s Margaret Sullivan wrote yesterday:

Many fathers. But the pro-Trump media — led by Fox News — has earned its disgraceful place near the top of the list of infamy.

They own this.

And as administration officials (who by definition, support the president and his agenda) start to back away from Trump (Cabinet members like Betsy DeVos and Elaine Chao resigned instead of invoking the 25th amendment) we’re going to see reputation rehab try to edge its way through the door. 

It’s already started, with Politico’s Q&A with former White House communications director, who gets to use the publication to wash her way actions while at the same saying she’s “proud of much we did.”

The power of the media means it has the responsibility to inform and find the closest thing to the truth. Four years of relying on anonymous sources from an administration that openly lies about easily check-able things has eroded that power. News orgs have to regain the trust that’s been lost over the years. An easy way to do this: stop putting liars on air, or giving them cover through anonymity, or allowing them to reshape their own roles over the past four years. 

As we’ve discussed several times over the last year, and research has buoyed, the rise of conspiracy and the lack of news media trust is a recipe for disaster. And one that was borne out on Wednesday.  

News media has the ability to not air bad-faith actors that erode that trust. It also has the ability to not thump its chest when people “flock” to their channels, no matter how good it’s been for the business.

And there’s still a long way to go to retain trust in media, no matter how many people tune in.

Thank you for allowing me in your inbox, today and every day. If you have tips, or thoughts on the newsletter, drop me a line. Or you can follow me on Twitter. If you arrived here via social or through a referral, please consider signing up. Thanks for reading, and have a safe and restful weekend. See ya Monday!

The Grateful Dead, “Bird Song”

Some interesting links:

For never learning to not conduct business on the Acela:

• Project Veritas Leader Overheard on Amtrak Talking Strategy (Bloomberg)

For pinning blame on platforms:

• Platforms Must Pay for Their Role in the Insurrection (Wired)

• The One Thing Trump Can’t Replace (The Atlantic)

• Facebook, Twitter could face punishing regulation for their role in U.S. Capitol riot, Democrats say (Washington Post)

For platforms are deplatforming the President:

• Shopify Takes Trump Organization and Campaign Stores Offline (WSJ)

• President Trump blocked from posting to Facebook, Instagram 'indefinitely,' at least through end of term (USA Today)

• The deplatforming of President Trump (NYT)

For marketers who also sieged the Capitol:

• Handcuffs Await Idaho Man Who Bragged About Illegally Entering House Chamber (The Smoking Gun)

• US Capitol rioter fired from job at Maryland marketing firm (NY Post)

• Internet detectives are identifying scores of pro-Trump rioters at the Capitol. Some have already been fired. (Washington Post)

For future of media business models:

• BuzzFeed Has Held Discussions With Rascoff’s SPAC (The Information)

• Roku acquires Quibi’s library of content (Axios)

For looking at American events through a foreign lens:

• How Western media would have covered the storming of the U.S. Capitol if it had happened in another country (Washington Post)