How relevant are the cable news shows to this election??

[cliffordu]

I mean REALLY relevant??

I looked at the numbers here:

http://tvbythenumbers.com/2008/06/12/cable-news-ratings-for-wednesday-june-11/4113#more-4113

And I ain't impressed with their market share - unless I am reading the numbers incorrectly...

It seems to me if they were relevant to anyone but political junkies, shut ins and disaster addicts, they'd have 20 million people a day watching, instead of a couple hundred thousand per show.....

[Oregone]

1. I think they "trickle down"

A lot of weekly talking points are first hatched on them, which are covered by local news and talk radio. Also, the obnoxious political junkies at work probably catch a few hours and relates all the information to ill-informed, low-information coworkers. I do not think viewership is a direct indicator of influence.

[cliffordu]

2. I was wondering about that kind of media cross-talk and osmosis....

it's like all media watches the other forms to see what's going to be "The Big Story" and jump on it...which I think could explain why it seems none of them do their own research anymore.

[sandnsea]

3. I agree, consider "The View"

Much of what they rehash politically is the garbage covered on cable. It's infuriating that we've got three 24 hour "news" channels and nobody knows anything about the important legislation that we can't get through Congress or that Dennis Kucinich introduced 35 legitimate reasons to impeach the President.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

4. Please

don't make me consider that show.

[Oregone]

5. That show is a good example of this...

Hasslebeck definitely studies and delivers talking points, as seen on network news (Fox). The others occasionally adopt other network news talking points and issues (even though the discussion on it is not controlled like network news). Then they broadcast the topics to millions of women at home who may not watch the news.

Daily Show and Colbert really do the same thing, respinning the events in a different context (or pointing out the absurdity of network news). But those shows really are about what is happening on the networks. A lot of morning talk shows do a lot of recap on these issues.

I imagine a lot of talk radio is the same.