Most surveys regarding cable news channels focus on ratings and the opinions of their viewers. However, a recent poll conducted by the Brookings and Public Religion Research Institute sought the views of all Americans toward all news sources in the nation.
A mere 5 percent of the respondents called the left-wing MSNBC cable channel their “most trusted” TV news outlet. On the other end of the spectrum, the Fox News Channel was named by 25 percent of the people surveyed, surprisingly more than the 23 percent who pointed to the “mainstream media” broadcast networks and the 21 percent who said they trust the Cable News Network.
Ronan Farrow
By Randy Hall | June 10, 2014 | 9:28 PM EDT
By Connor Williams | June 10, 2014 | 3:10 PM EDT
On the June 10 edition of Ronan Farrow Daily, the program’s host moderated a fascinating discussion with two guests about the growing diversity of video games over time and how–increasingly–video games are moving more into niche interests.
But viewers got a little more than they may have bargained for when Mr. Farrow felt the need to share with his audience that he had “just played ‘Gone Home,’ which is a coming of age lesbian love story.” [MP3 audio here; video below]
By Tim Graham | June 9, 2014 | 2:38 PM EDT
USA Today media columnist Michael Wolff throws dirt on the sinking fortunes of CNN in Monday's paper, denouncing the cable-news audience along the way: it’s “overly fixated, if not fetishistic.”
Wolff then unloads on MSNBC host Ronan Farrow as the “nadir of television gravitas, the “child anchor...mimicking the adults.” Ouch:
By Laura Flint | May 30, 2014 | 5:30 PM EDT
In MSNBC’s view of the world, Twitter hashtag appeals are apparently only acceptable for liberal or politically-correct causes.
On the May 30 edition of Ronan Farrow Daily, the MSNBC host invited Deadspin columnist and GQ contributor Drew Magary onto the show to discuss how the Washington Redskins are pushing back against the incessant pressure campaign for the NFL team to drop its name for something more politically correct. Magary scoffed at the #Redskinspride effort by the Redskins, sniffing that it was part of a ludicrous “North Korean-style PR campaign.” (See video below. Click here for MP3 audio)
By Laura Flint | May 28, 2014 | 10:16 AM EDT
You can take the boy genius out of the Hillary Clinton State Department, but you can’t take the Hillary Clinton acolyte out of the boy.
On the May 27 edition of Ronan Farrow Daily, the former special advisor to ex-Secretary of State treated viewers to a segment devoted to his former employer which lasted over five minutes long, a fairly long stretch of time for an hour-long news program. [See video below. Click here for MP3 audio]
Following Abramson's Ouster, Another NYT Alum Concedes Bias: 'One of the Leading Voices for Liberal Values'
By Laura Flint | May 15, 2014 | 6:00 PM EDT Although NewsBusters has documented The New York Times’s commitment to pushing a liberal agenda for years, it took a discrimination scandal inside the paper itself for the MSNBC network to air a liberal journalist admitting what everyone already knows but liberals are loath to confess: The Times has a left-of-center tilt, despite its dogged persistence in claiming to be objective.
On the May 15 edition of Ronan Farrow Daily, former Times reporter Leslie Bennetts, author of the The Feminine Mistake, expressed her outrage at the allegation of wage discrimination among Times executives coming to light as a result of the sudden sacking of executive editor Jill Abramson. [see video below]
By Scott Whitlock | May 13, 2014 | 12:03 PM EDT
No Hillary Clinton news is too unimportant for the liberal hosts on MSNBC. Anchor Ronan Farrow on Monday used part of his show to listen to Clinton's new audio book, enthusing over its touching nature. Stopping a discussion cold, the host instructed, "Take a listen to one bit that we all found particularly moving in the office about her mother."
The possible 2016 presidential contender could then be heard repeating her mom's advice: "Never rest on your laurels, never quit, never stop working to make the world a better place." Talking to a Republican consultant, Farrow demanded, "Robert Traynham, do you think that's enough to melt the coldest of GOP hearts on Hillary Clinton?" [See video below. MP3 audio here.]
Did He Inhale? MSNBC's Ronan Farrow Considers His Low-Rated Show a 'Success Beyond My Wildest Dreams'
By Tim Graham | May 4, 2014 | 9:26 PM EDT
Twentysomething MSNBC host Ronan Farrow told New York magazine at the Time 100 Gala that he knew nothing about marijuana vaporizers -- "That is how uncool I am," he insisted -- but his assessment of how his show is performing sounds like it came after he inhaled.
How is this show a success beyond his "wildest dreams"? His dreams must be incredibly vanilla:
By Randy Hall | April 30, 2014 | 10:33 PM EDT
Les Moonves, chairman and chief executive officer of the CBS Corporation, responded to criticism that the network was replacing David Letterman, a liberal comedian and longtime host of the weeknight Late Show program, with Stephen Colbert, another liberal comic and host of The Colbert Report, who is likely to continue making fun of conservatives and Republicans when he leaves his Comedy Channel program to replace Letterman sometime in 2015.
“Ironically, Stephen Colbert is much more moderate than people think he is,” Moonves said on Wednesday. "He's a great social commentator, and that's sort of what we want. That's sort of what David Letterman has been."
By NB Staff | April 24, 2014 | 2:01 PM EDT
Sean Hannity interviewed MRC president Brent Bozell on his Fox News show on Wednesday night. The topic? MRC research on the revolving door between the “objective” media and the Obama administration, which now has a list of 30 people.
“This is out of control,” said Bozell. “We've been looking at this since 1987. And that revolving door is always there. It's always predominantly liberal Democrats going into politics or going from politics into journalism. But in the last several years it's on steroids.” Start with the 1 pm and 2 pm hosts on MSNBC (video, transcript below):
By Randy Hall | March 31, 2014 | 8:19 PM EDT
When the “Lean Forward” network hired Ronan Farrow last October to host his own weekday news/interview show, the 20-something son of actress Mia Farrow was hailed as “an original thinker” who could bring his 250,000 Twitter followers to watch him on MSNBC.
However, only a month after Ronan Farrow Daily debuted in mid-February, an anonymous source inside the channel told the New York Daily News that Farrow's ratings have been poor, and his program “has been a disaster for MSNBC” because the young host “sort of stinks on TV” and “hasn't turned out to be the superstar they were hoping for,” even in the relevant demographic of younger viewers ranging from 25 to 54 years of age.
By Scott Whitlock | March 25, 2014 | 4:30 PM EDT
It's not often that the hosts of MSNBC trumpet an elected Republican as a "hero." But liberal anchor Ronan Farrow did exactly that on Tuesday as he praised Senator Mark Kirk's insistence that he would not campaign against his Illinois colleague, Democratic Senator Dick Durbin.
According to Farrow, Kirk's declaration caused him to release "weeping tears of joy" for "those rare magical moments of congressional harmony." Regarding the 2014 senatorial election in his state, Kirk asserted, "I am going to be protecting my relationship with Dick and not launching into a partisan jihad that hurts our partnership to both pull together for Illinois." An effusive Farrow swooned, "For the increasingly novel approach of putting substance over politics, Senator Mark Kirk is our hero today." [See video below. MP3 audio here.]