Ep. 61: What The Hell Is Wrong With MSNBC? (Part II) - A Rebuttal

It is always ratings, all the time, no matter what because that is literally one part of how ad rates are set.

They could easily list off some topics should get exposure, tally what exposure they actually get, and then push some programmes to cover it if it's not enough. Could also give programmes some episodes that are not judged by ratings. He (approximately) said something about shops not stocking products that aren't bought. But the goal the public sees in shops is to get products to buyers. The goal, stated as such, even, of MSNBC(and others) is informing the public. Yet now, here, we hear it's actually ratings.

Jasper

I agree with what others have said that this was a frustrating episode. I think there was value in it, but it was frustrating that Toure apparently hadn't prepared any response to the arguments made in the first podcast. Indeed, I think Adam and Nima could have done more to skewer him for his sloppy misrepresentations of the left argument on MSNBC

Jon Black

brave of you to sum up ~45 minutes of dialogue so succinctly

feebee

even though it would be mind-numbingly frustrating, part of me would love to sit down and watch MSNBC with your guest and get his reaction to a day of their programming

Emma & Brian

this ep was great! frustrated the hell out of me at times, but i loved it and am so glad you had him on. He didn't change my mind whatsoever about MSNBC, but I found a lot of value in revisiting this. I like to hear how someone might justify their media coverage. Went back and listened to the original MSNBC ep after this one and was even more convinced you were spot on in that one.

Emma & Brian

I think your critique of capitalism is unfair. What you're not considering is that people's actions are ultimately driven by profit. If you understand that then your whole argument falls apart!

Simon

I appreciate you having this guest on for this discussion, but I fell asleep with my feed of "unplayed" podcasts running, and for quite some time I dreamed I was in an office vociferously rebutting this rebuttal and no one was listening to me. I woke up and became a patron.

cinchal

Oof. Turns out Touré was a sexual harasser.

I’m so deep in left podcast land listening to centrist apologia is like a bucket of water to the face. Good lord.

Clinton Hallahan

This guy really seems to miss the point, in that his excuse for why MSNBC sucks ("ratings drives everything") is literally the problem at hand. Any "good" that MSNBC does is coincidental to their main motivation: profit. Also I feel like there was a huge missed opportunity to illustrate this point, when he correctly identified that all the major networks have a pro-war bias, nobody forced him to articulate why that might be, which is again: ratings. Money. Aside from the myriad other factors that influence the pro-war culture in news (and the country as a whole), war programming gets huge ratings. When profit is your only motive, you end up with "leftist" news that endorses & actively advocates for mass death

hamburglar

Pretty rough listen at times but it was interesting at times to watch the guest oscillate between ratings apologia and Newsroom titanic self-regard. He'd say they literally could not talk about climate change or Yemen because it'd tank the ratings and then moments later speak pridefully about bringing the stories that the audience *had* to know about (presumably whichever dullard in the Trump admin's orbit that "flipped" that week.)

Bryce3dKeygen.midi

Fascinating ep. A look into the smooth brain of woke corporate media. I chuckled when he said he was left.

Virtue and even reality(if only temporarily) are now a commodity for the few at the expense of the many.

David Blobaum

I thought a glimpse into the thought process of the underlings and the "blind leading the blind" copy cat pecking order according to rankings may not have been very revealing but it was interesting to hear a bit of detail for a change....... The business model itself is wrong for society and this once again proves that capitalism has destroyed not only the truth, but in a temporary sense, reality itself............................................................................................................ “We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality — judiciously, as you will — we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Karl Rove.

David Blobaum

I agree. And the guest seemed to completely misunderstand the criticism of MSNBC. Have on critics, but at least invite informed ones.

Simon

I kind of get the rationale for this in theory, but in practice, it just felt like giving a platform to someone whose primary interest was towing the company line. This episode was frustrating to say the least :/

Frances Mary

i honestly don't see that.

sensorsweep

Pointless episode.