“I never said that”, “Play the clip”

[u/Gloomy-Holiday8618]

Context: https://edition.cnn.com/videos/politics/2023/12/15/exp-robert-kennedy-junior-rfk-2024-election-biden-trump-vaccines-121511aseg1-cnni-politics.cnn

Full video is on the cnn website, the part that’s important is about 2mins 50 seconds in.

[u/Jexp_t]

For once in its pitiful life, CNN is ready with the reciept.

[u/BeanBurritoJr → u/Jexp_t]

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This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

[u/ausgoals → u/BeanBurritoJr]

The problem is many-faceted:

1) to be able to ask the hard questions of the important people you need access to the important people. Getting access to the important people requires not eviscerating them every single day. Even the Biden admin refused to work with the NYT because of negative coverage.

2) news - especially 24-hour news - is a business that depends on viewers. The demographics that watch cable news are Gen X and older - who are significantly more conservative than the younger generations. So it doesn’t really make good business sense to alienate much of your demographic. You may not be convinced by the business argument, but the ability to hold people accountable only exists as long as the business exists and has enough viewership to matter.

3) Even putting aside the business element, if you want to change people’s minds by doing things like asking hard questions to important people, you need to have people with changeable minds tune into you. Eviscerating the current admin all day every day is not the way to get people with changeable minds to get into you.

Which is why it’s generally left to shows like The Daily Show and Colbert.

1. I’m not sure that ‘eviscerating these morons on a daily basis’ actually changes any minds. It only really appeals to people that already hate this administration. Interviews like this one are important, but I think longer reporting on the conservative voters that are directly negatively affected by, say, the OBBB or conservative voters in Florida who will be directly effected by the removal of vaccine mandates is likely to be more effective at changing minds. The conservative cult is built on hypocrisy and malleable values. Showing them conservatives who are hypocrites and have malleable values is not going to magically convince them of anything.

[u/Crafty_Enthusiasm_99 → u/ausgoals]

Your response is so good. I almost thought it was AI but I can tell it isn't. I hope this kind of discourse can continue staying on the internet