CNN has had a vendetta against Donald Trump ever since he aptly labeled them “fake news.”
Since then, the network has quickly lost consumer confidence, and thrashed and screeched to remain relevant.
But the most recent data shows CNN is in bigger trouble than anyone thought.
CNN is in a world of hurt. The self-described “most trusted name in news” has seen its trust rating drop far below its chief competitors, Fox News and MSNBC.
CNN’s biggest crime, among many, promoting itself as a centrist media outlet when it hews just as far left as MSNBC.
That dishonesty in branding has caused the network to flounder in the ratings, but the damage is worse than many anticipated.
Fox News continues to dominate the cable landscape, being the most-watched network for the 8th straight quarter, and the most-watched cable news network for the 66th straight quarter.
Fox landed approximately 2.5 million primetime viewers. MSNBC came in second with roughly 1.8 million. CNN clocked in at number 13 with a paltry 914,000 viewers.
CNN also suffered a 16% drop in total day viewers, and a 23% drop in the news demographic.
Those are staggering numbers, but shouldn’t come as a surprise considering the wave of bad press the network has generated.
CNN was part of a massive scandal when it was proven that analyst Donna Brazile was feeding debate questions to Hillary Clinton, a gross violation for a supposed non-partisan network.
During the 2016 election, anchor Chris Cuomo falsely and stupidly claimed only the press could legally download information from WikiLeaks.
Last year, three CNN investigative journalists were forced to resign after they were exposed for reporting fake news that former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci was linked to a billionaire Russian oligarch.
The investigative journalist outlet Prospect Veritas got top producers and hosts at CNN to admit the Russia collusion story was a “big nothing-burger.”
Nevertheless, the network continued to pound away at a narrative they didn’t even believe. Ironically, that type of cynical ratings grab has damaged their brand in the long run.
Recently, the network has come under intense scrutiny for the disgraceful grandstanding of White House correspondent Jim Acosta.
He’s repeatedly blurted out questions at inappropriate times, even drawing derision from his fellow colleagues. One journalist tried to “shush” Acosta as he prattled on.
The self-aggrandizing got so bad, a former CNN producer chided Acosta in the harshest of terms:
On a day journalists could honor the memory of fellow reporters tragically killed due to a deranged person with a vendetta going back years, Acosta tries to shift the blame to Trump, thus validating many Americans’ feelings about the Acela Media (that existed long before Trump).
— Steve Krakauer (@SteveKrak) June 29, 2018
As CNN’s viewership declines, their death throes get more and more desperate and transparent.
One would think a network so beset by embarrassing scandals would rein in their reporters and try to live up to their hollow standard of “the most trust name in news.”
But the time for that has seemed to pass. The network has dedicated itself to partisan politics while coyly trying to present itself as down-the-middle.
With each misstep, CNN proves Trump right when he labeled them “very fake news.” Soon it will be too late for the network to recover.