CNN's conservative conversation

The Cable News Network (CNN) reeks of liberal bias. There are few immutable truths in life and this is one of them. Ladies and gentlemen, expect the unexpected. Fewer than two weeks ago CNN began its courting of none other than Rush Limbaugh, the most popular conservative radio show host in the country.\nIt gets better. The new chairman of CNN, Walter Isaacson, recently went to Capitol Hill … to meet with Republican leaders, including Trent Lott, Dennis Hastert, and JC Watts. He also met with officials from the Bush administration. According to Roll Call, Isaacson stated, "I was trying to reach out to a lot of Republicans, and I wanted to hear their concerns."\nIt should be clear that if ever a liberal wants to hear his own beliefs mindlessly echoed back at himself, turning on CNN is all that needs to be done. Yet even this bastion of the left is faltering, begging one of liberalism's most feared enemies to enter its innermost citadel. As Roger Ailes, the Fox News Chairman, jokingly remarks, Isaacson's actions translate into an acknowledgement that CNN is "168 hours a week tipping to the left and Bob Novak."\nCNN's capitulation to the reality of American politics, that the conservative point of view does indeed exist, only goes to show a most glorious albeit belated epiphany: Republicans matter, as viewers and as voters. With some exceptions, such as Crossfire and The Spin Room (which aren't news shows in the strict sense), CNN's facts and views are disappointingly liberal. Conservatives are tired of knowing the truth but not seeing it reported.\nBut CNN hasn't found religion; it's found the increasingly powerful presence of Fox News painful. Ah… competition! As Nielsen Media Research reports, once dominating the 24-7 news corner of the broadcasting market, CNN has seen its ratings sluggishly increase from a 308,000-viewer average during the first seven months of 2000 to 321,000-viewer average during the first seven months of 2001. Fox News, on the other hand, has sprung forth and risen like a phoenix, more than doubling from a 140,000 to a 282,000-viewer average during the same period. To make prospects gloomier for CNN, it should be mentioned Fox News is in15 million fewer households.\nThe best part is Fox News' ratings haven't soared because it has an agenda. As ridiculous as this sounds, to a liberal, reporting all sides of the story is considered conservative. Why? Because whenever the liberal and conservative arguments are presented in a news report, the conservative argument makes the most sense. Period. That's why liberals love the soon to be "old" CNN - it only gives the liberal side of a story and tries to sell it as the truth. Fox News isn't afraid to let its viewers decide for themselves. Indeed, its slogan is "We Report, You Decide." CNN has forgotten that this nation is made up of not just the blue states, but all those red states in the middle as well.\n Of course many conservatives would rather see CNN drown in its own liberal morass than successfully discover objective journalism. But this view is in error. As Rush Limbaugh has so eloquently responded to those conservatives who would rather see CNN slowly but surely rot away, "'My friends,' Jesus said, 'Go where the sinners are.'" Rightly so.\nYet one must understand that Walter Isaacson isn't pandering to Republicans because he believes in sound, tell-all-the-sides journalism. He could care less about being fair to Republicans. His real and only reason for changing course with this sinking CNN ship is money. As Rush Limbaugh often declares, "Follow the money." If ever one disbelieved the power of market forces, this article should vanquish any doubt. In the end, though, ratings should not be the driving force behind CNN's transformation; a concerted effort for balanced journalism should be the overriding goal. Sadly, one can only hope Isaacson's motives are noble.