From the recent federal election in Canada, I remember the polarization and remain shaken by the violence reserved for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, during some of his campaign stops. I am shaken by our increasingly deep divisions. Naively, I thought we were almost immune to these trends observed elsewhere.
Posted yesterday at 10:00 a.m.
For at least 10 years, we have seen this division and polarization grow among our neighbors to the south – citizens of a country that is increasingly united in name only. There, as here, this polarization and this division are the enemy of nuance. They are awful and now they are ours too.
They are found at the heart of American news channels. And if the latter are not the only culprits at the origin of this division and this polarization, they are largely responsible for it. The current passes through there.
On one side, MSNBC and CNN, on the other, Fox News. Each having, as pilots of their most popular shows, hosts who are also agitators and who deliver monologues of attacks against the Other.
They do not try to camouflage their political allegiances or their ideologies. It is a recipe which has built the image of these networks and which has contributed to filling their coffers.
Numbers1 make you dizzy. In 2020, the three networks combined nearly US$6 billion in revenue.
But is the tide turning? Last year, a decline in the ratings of these cable channels was observed. An observation to which President Joe Biden recently alluded, during his marathon press conference on January 19. “For now, Fox News is doing fine, but others could disappear from the conversation in four or five years,” he said in his critique of Americans’ undiversified media consumption.
Several factors can explain that there are fewer viewers, of course. But among them is the creation of new media content based on unity. It is a solution that appeals to many and that we find more and more on other platforms. Van Jones, CNN regular and Obama administration alumnus, has been hosting the podcast for a few months Uncommon Ground. How do we find solutions to divisive issues? With his guests, Van Jones tries to answer it. The “big 3” do a similar exercise in their flagship, prime-time newscasts. With ABC’s “America Strong,” NBC’s “Inspiring America,” and CBS’ “A More Perfect Union,” the focus isn’t on what’s broken in the United States. Instead, the spotlight is on how Americans can fix it, together. There’s also the @Goodable Twitter account, which only posts positive and uplifting news. The account is so popular that @Goodable is about to launch an app for mobile devices.
The popularity of content like Goodable, the Van Jones podcast and feel-good news segments hasn’t escaped CNN boss Jeff Zucker. Architect of the platform streaming CNN+, which will be launched in March, Zucker seems to have understood that it is necessary to offer consumers something other than anger. We see it in the announced program. CNN+ will be a mix of shows that will have the space to put things into context and to present nuance and possibilities for resolution – reminding us that all of this is still possible.
Polarization has become a star. Featured on the sets of streaming news channels and streaming through social media, in political debates and in election campaigns. Jeff Zucker promises that CNN+ will offer another style of stars, real ones.
You have to believe it. By bringing in big names like Chris Wallace, formerly of Fox News, actress Eva Longoria and former NPR darling Audie Cornish, in addition to offering new shows to sure values of the parent company, like Anderson Cooper and Fareed Zakaria, Zucker looks like George Steinbrenner in 1998. Then owner of the New York Yankees, Steinbrenner had built a dream team by fetching the best baseball players on the market. That same year, the Yankees were crowned world champions.
Will CNN+ emerge a winner in a market of streaming who will become more and more competitive? Is the platform heralding a new genre of influential media? The success of this kind of content is important, because if taking the time to present stories differently pays off and talking about unity continues to pay off, more media outlets will pick up on it. This possible change is reassuring. It won’t fix all our ills, and the goal isn’t to ditch mainstream media and turn our backs on the news that reports what’s wrong. Rather, the goal is to have access to more choices and to have a more balanced media diet which, perhaps, will curb division and misunderstanding of the other.
From the Americans, we inherited polarization. Perhaps we will also inherit this beginning of the will to seem to want to counter it?
1. Source: Kagan, S&P Global Market Intelligence