CNN has launched a new advertising campaign, claiming to be the only cable network without an ideological ax to grind [1].
"If you want to keep them all honest, without playing favorites, the
choice is clear: CNN, the worldwide leader in news," the on-screen
message declares.
So, did CNN "play favorites" during the midterm campaign? MRC analysts
reviewed all of the guests and commentators on CNN's primetime weekday
programs from October 4 through October 29, the last four full weeks
before the November 2 elections. Guests were grouped into three
categories: "Democrat/liberal," "Republican/conservative," and "Other."
The latter category included all non-political guests, as well as guests
who were not associated with a clear political point of view.
The
results show that liberal guests outnumbered conservatives by a more
than three-to-two margin, 61% to 39%. Our analysts found 88
"Democrat/liberal" guests to just 56 "Republican/conservative" guests.
All three of the network's primetime programs - Parker Spitzer, Larry King Live, and Anderson Cooper 360 - featured more liberals than conservatives among their politically-affiliated guests.
To be clear, CNN offered opportunities for conservatives and
Republicans to speak during the crucial final weeks of the campaign. But
as for not "playing favorites," the data show the networks provided
clear advantage for liberals.
- Rich Noyes is Research Director at the Media Research
Center. You can follow him on Twitter here [2].