Why does CNN give free coverage to terrible people running for elected office?

[Joey1996]

CNN and company I should say. They keep covering scumbags like Trump, Roy Moore and Joe Arpaio none stop, then they want to have 24 hour tantrums after they win. Thanks to CNN and company the fringe are no longer fringe...if Alex Jones challenged Ted Cruz for his Senate sear today they would cover it none stop and give AJ a huge platform. 

[GlobeSoc]

money

[Strudelcutie4427]

Bad news gets ratings

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

money

Yep. We're going to be strangled by unbridled capitalism.

We're allowing the drive for eyeballs and ad revenue to overwhelm all other concerns. And it is destroying us.

[pbrower2a]

'Good news' often isn't news. If Wal*Mart hires 5000 more people nationwide while Sears lays off 1000 nationwide, the news about Sears gets the newspaper space or broadcast time, and the news about Wal*Mart doesn't. A decline in the rate of violent crime isn't likely to get marquee coverage, while a robbery-murder in a convenience store does. The saying "If it bleeds it leads" is highly relevant to news directed at mass audiences such as television viewers. If we really wanted good news we could have a common story on Soviet-era Vremya -- basically, "the wheat crop is being harvested".

I could make the case that the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts have more influence upon and encompass more lives than do Klan groups -- yet the Klan gets more attention.

...the Republican nominees for President in 2016 were generally awful. The one who should have run, and probably would have won the Presidency (Mitt Romney) didn't.  The least-objectionable of Republican candidates for the Presidential nominations (John Kasich) had no chance. One must admit: Donald Trump won the nomination and the Presidency. We are stuck with him and his stooge Congress, and he will try to Make America Great Again. Great, of course -- if you want  America to be as it was in the 1920s or earlier for labor-management relations, low taxes for economic elites, norms of educational attainment, and the absence of a welfare state. Add to that -- it will be safe again to express gutter racism in supposed 'polite company'.

Goodness is trite. Evil is fascinating. There are far more books about Adolf Hitler than about Raoul Wallenberg, and there are more books about Lincoln than about Hitler only because Lincoln had an 80-year head-start. A hospital that opens in Africa and treats destitute people who would otherwise be priced into the grave may have more of a positive effect than the harm that some celebrity who allegedly murders his abused wife and one of her friends, but you know which story gets the big coverage.

[dead0man]

people love a trainwreck and CNN loves money

[At-Large Senator LouisvilleThunder]

That's because TV news is in the business of providing entertainment to its viewers because its ratings are measured by and compared to the same standards as any sports or reality show channel. Also, most Americans are not interested in spending their limited free time watching good but boring news. They want something to laugh about or feel the adrenaline rush of something that scares them, so the media simply configures their programming to meet what the consumers want.

[KingSweden]

Bad news gets ratings

More or less this

[dead0man]

and all of this is why you should NOT get your news from the TV

(yes, every place you get your news is looking for revenue and eyes, but the internet is still a better place to get your news.)

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

[Landslide Lyndon]

Here is another question: why does CNN calls so often Bernie Sanders to talk about the Democratic party when he is not a Democrat?

[IceSpear]

Of course you would find a way to mention Hillary here, lol.

[TJ in Oregon]

Jfern isn't wrong though; most journalists are political activists rather than neutral messengers. Heck enough people on the Atlas freely admit to voting in the other party's primaries for people they believe to be weaker candidates. It's gotten better here post 2016 of course, but there was a time when half the board was gotcha articles about some random Republican dogcatcher who said something nutty.

I agree the money and attention angle is a complementary factor too, but you don't go into journalism to make bank, you go into it to change the world. Well, look around you at the change.

[GoTfan]

Here is another question: why does CNN calls so often Bernie Sanders to talk about the Democratic party when he is not a Democrat?

Apart from being a total red herring into the topic, he's been caucusing with the Democrats longer than Obama's been involved with politics, not to mention he's a solidly Democratic vote on nearly every issue.

[Cactus Jack]

They're vultures who thrive on chaos- and controversy-based publicity.

[Statilius the Epicurean]

money

[Rookie Yinzer]

They're vultures who thrive on chaos- and controversy-based publicity.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Here is another question: why does CNN calls so often Bernie Sanders to talk about the Democratic party when he is not a Democrat?

Apart from being a total red herring into the topic, he's been caucusing with the Democrats longer than Obama's been involved with politics, not to mention he's a solidly Democratic vote on nearly every issue.

So did Lieberman.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Here is another question: why does CNN calls so often Bernie Sanders to talk about the Democratic party when he is not a Democrat?

He's the only Democratic Senator that people actually care about.

Oh really? Is that why all the candidates he endorsed lost in landslides?

[Joey1996]

Here is another question: why does CNN calls so often Bernie Sanders to talk about the Democratic party when he is not a Democrat?

Uh, maybe because he's caucused with Democrats his entire career in congress, ran for president as a Democrat and was giving a leadership position by Chuck Schumer?

[Landslide Lyndon]

Here is another question: why does CNN calls so often Bernie Sanders to talk about the Democratic party when he is not a Democrat?

He's the only Democratic Senator that people actually care about.

Oh really? Is that why all the candidates he endorsed lost in landslides?

Are you really surprised that CNN would rather have the most popular (incumbent, at least) politician in America over a Senator no one knows about outside of political circles (e.g. Klobuchar or Gillibrand) on their show?

If I were a host I'd never call Sanders to my show for another reason: he is boring. He always says the same things. You could have a conversation about whether hot dogs are better with ketchup or mustard and he'd start talking about the milonas, the billionas, and Wall Street.

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

money

[All Along The Watchtower]

Because CNN is not a journalistic organization. It barely even qualifies as a "news" organization. And it's a for-profit corporation, after all. Gotta get many millions of eyeballs if you want advertisers (read: other for-profit corporations) to pay you. They're the ones who really want those eyeballs.

Most "news" media these days is like this, obviously.

[GoTfan]

Here is another question: why does CNN calls so often Bernie Sanders to talk about the Democratic party when he is not a Democrat?

Apart from being a total red herring into the topic, he's been caucusing with the Democrats longer than Obama's been involved with politics, not to mention he's a solidly Democratic vote on nearly every issue.

So did Lieberman.

Trying to compare a center to center-right Senator to a left wing Senator.

Okay.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Here is another question: why does CNN calls so often Bernie Sanders to talk about the Democratic party when he is not a Democrat?

Apart from being a total red herring into the topic, he's been caucusing with the Democrats longer than Obama's been involved with politics, not to mention he's a solidly Democratic vote on nearly every issue.

So did Lieberman.

Trying to compare a center to center-right Senator to a left wing Senator.

Okay.

Who both badmouthed and undermined their party as part of their personal brand.