“The Newsroom“, which premiered Sunday on HBO, was an overly dramatized attempt to decry the current state of the television news business. The program, which was filled with smart dialog, internal conflict and self-righteousness, was a bit misleading about what happens behind the scenes at a cable news network.
Nonetheless, Aaron Sorkin should be praised for raising some important questions about television news. However, on Wednesday’s CBS This Morning, Sorkin said, “News shows should be exempt from having to deliver ratings.” Really? If there were no news ratings how would media companies pay their news gathering expenses?
Global news organizations, such as ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and Fox, each cost several hundred million dollars to operate per year. For example, the Fox News Channel invests around $700 million annually, surpassing CNN for the first time in 2010. CNN has about 46 news bureaus worldwide, while Fox News has fewer than 20.
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