Being impartial, or what some call fair and balanced, use to be the mantra in journalism. But amid the blur of so many channels and so much information, viewers and readers are looking for media to make sense of what is going on. More often than not, that means they are picking media of a particular political persuasion – outlets like Fox News or the New York Times. Now, MSNBC is seeking to capitalize on this shift in preferences. With viewers comes advertisers and with advertisers comes bigger revenue and bigger profits.
The New York Times – With the promotion of Rachel Maddow, the Air America radio host, to a prime-time television spot this week, the longtime third-place cable news network MSNBC cemented its identity as a channel for a liberal audience.
But is that what advertisers want it to be?
MSNBC, which is owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric, does not trumpet its shift. But in the 12 years that MSNBC has competed head-to-head with CNN and the Fox News Channel, the partisan lines have never been drawn so neatly.
Advertisers are keeping a close eye on the 24-hour news networks, especially given the heightened interest in the presidential election and the resulting ratings boost for cable news. So far, they say the partisanship of the programming matters less than the ratings the shows can generate.
