By Lucretia Hughes Klucken
NEW YORK — MS NOW President Rebecca Kutler is drawing attention after pointing to former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele as evidence that the cable news network offers a “broad range of views,” a statement that has renewed debate over whether partisan cable networks are genuinely exposing audiences to competing political perspectives.
Kutler made the comments during a recent interview with WIRED. Asked whether MS NOW — formerly MSNBC — wanted to expand beyond its predominantly progressive and Democratic audience, Kutler acknowledged that its audience differs significantly from that of Fox News and said there was probably little overlap between the two. WIRED
Kutler then cited Steele’s presence on the network.
“Michael Steele is a big part of our election night,” Kutler said, noting that Steele previously chaired the Republican National Committee. “We have a broad range of views, but I think they all fall under that pro-democracy banner.” WIRED
That characterization deserves scrutiny.
Steele served as RNC chairman from 2009 to 2011, giving him unquestioned Republican credentials. But a former party title does not, by itself, demonstrate that a news organization currently presents a broad ideological spectrum.
Steele has become a prominent critic of President Donald Trump and is part of MS NOW’s regular lineup. That distinction matters when Kutler presents him as evidence of ideological diversity: The relevant question is not simply whether someone once held a Republican position, but whether viewers regularly encounter substantive disagreement among the network’s commentators on the major political questions dominating its coverage.
The controversy also illustrates a larger problem facing American journalism. A news organization can employ people with different résumés while still producing programming in which most contributors reach similar conclusions. Conversely, ideological diversity does not automatically determine whether reporting is accurate or responsible. Those are separate questions.
Kutler herself appears comfortable identifying MS NOW’s natural constituency. During the WIRED interview, the interviewer characterized the network’s audience as progressive, Democratic and left-leaning. Kutler responded that MS NOW and Fox have different audiences, with little overlap, and said that was “OK.” WIRED
Her broader strategy is to deepen the relationship with that audience rather than simply chase traditional cable ratings. MS NOW recently launched a direct-to-consumer membership service offering its television feed, exclusive programming and opportunities for subscribers to interact with personalities including Rachel Maddow, Michael Steele and others. TheWrap
That makes Kutler’s comments particularly significant. She is not merely a television personality expressing an opinion. As president, she is helping determine the network’s editorial and business direction.
There is also an important correction to claims that MS NOW is simply “losing viewers.”
Traditional cable television is facing a long-term decline as consumers move away from pay-TV packages, but MS NOW’s recent individual ratings have not uniformly declined. The Los Angeles Times reported in February that the network’s average daily audience had increased 25% compared with the same period a year earlier and that weeknight prime-time viewing was up 27%. In July, MS NOW averaged approximately 1.3 million prime-time viewers, up 19% year over year, according to Nielsen figures cited by the Times. Los Angeles Times
MS NOW nevertheless remains behind Fox News in cable-news viewership and, like its competitors, is trying to reach viewers who increasingly consume news through YouTube, podcasts, social media and streaming rather than conventional television. Kutler told WIRED that the network wants to compete across cable, digital, YouTube and audio. WIRED
That changing media environment makes credibility and audience trust increasingly important.
For viewers who believe traditional news organizations have become politically homogeneous, pointing to Steele’s former RNC chairmanship may not answer the underlying criticism. His résumé establishes that he once led the Republican Party. It does not establish, on its own, how much ideological disagreement exists within MS NOW’s current programming.
Ultimately, viewers can judge the network’s claim of a “broad range of views” by something more meaningful than the previous job titles of its contributors: the range of arguments they actually hear when they turn on the television.
Original article
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