Let the Markets Work...
...I agree, Congressional hearings on Rathergate are an awful idea...
The core of conservative thought is that, in the end, most situations can be resolved by letting the market decide. This is precisely the prescription for Rathergate...
CBS' competitors may, for the most part, share a common liberal bias; however, they are also competitors. That means they are always competing for the same eyeballs. ABC, NBC, Fox News, etc. all stand to benefit from any perceived loss of credibility at CBS. If people no longer trust CBS but still want daily news, they will choose an alternative: and one or all of those networks will gain viewers. In order to stand out from the crowd, the ideal way to make sure you grab the attention of that potential disaffected CBS viewer is to be at the loudest voice exposing how badly CBS violated its viewers' trust. ABC and Fox News (from my observations) have both been very aggressive at this: it's not bias, it's capitalism...And I'm sure any drop off in CBS viewership will likely benefit one of those two networks as a result.
The market is the ultimate check and balance. In this case, it's the market for dollars. CBS just exposed its soft underbelly by foolishly turning its back to its' latest predator: the blogosphere. It could have remained relatively unharmed by running away from the story, but instead it has foolishly chosen to stand and fight the wolf. Except now it finds the wolf has bigger, badder brothers with even vicious bites: namely its traditional rivals.
There is no need for Congress to get involved here. CBS has lost the public trust and has become a laughingstock. They may not realize it, but their competitors do. Their competitors will beat this drum until they are sure that they have squeezed every pair of eyeballs away from the network. CBS, for its part, will have a natural desire to prevent that from happening. So they will be forced to make a decision: either allow itself to bleed to death or start running.
And run they will at some point because they have the Viacom stockholders to answer to. And they have sponsors to answer to. And, to a lesser degree, they have consumers to answer to. Already sponsor boycotts, complaints to affiliates and other grassroots efforts are taking shape. It won't be long before the bean counters take notice of its effect on the bottom line, and management's hand will be forced.
Congress doesn't need to get involved because the market will fix itself. If you want it to work more efficiently then participate in some of those grassroots efforts to help hurry the process along...
The core of conservative thought is that, in the end, most situations can be resolved by letting the market decide. This is precisely the prescription for Rathergate...
CBS' competitors may, for the most part, share a common liberal bias; however, they are also competitors. That means they are always competing for the same eyeballs. ABC, NBC, Fox News, etc. all stand to benefit from any perceived loss of credibility at CBS. If people no longer trust CBS but still want daily news, they will choose an alternative: and one or all of those networks will gain viewers. In order to stand out from the crowd, the ideal way to make sure you grab the attention of that potential disaffected CBS viewer is to be at the loudest voice exposing how badly CBS violated its viewers' trust. ABC and Fox News (from my observations) have both been very aggressive at this: it's not bias, it's capitalism...And I'm sure any drop off in CBS viewership will likely benefit one of those two networks as a result.
The market is the ultimate check and balance. In this case, it's the market for dollars. CBS just exposed its soft underbelly by foolishly turning its back to its' latest predator: the blogosphere. It could have remained relatively unharmed by running away from the story, but instead it has foolishly chosen to stand and fight the wolf. Except now it finds the wolf has bigger, badder brothers with even vicious bites: namely its traditional rivals.
There is no need for Congress to get involved here. CBS has lost the public trust and has become a laughingstock. They may not realize it, but their competitors do. Their competitors will beat this drum until they are sure that they have squeezed every pair of eyeballs away from the network. CBS, for its part, will have a natural desire to prevent that from happening. So they will be forced to make a decision: either allow itself to bleed to death or start running.
And run they will at some point because they have the Viacom stockholders to answer to. And they have sponsors to answer to. And, to a lesser degree, they have consumers to answer to. Already sponsor boycotts, complaints to affiliates and other grassroots efforts are taking shape. It won't be long before the bean counters take notice of its effect on the bottom line, and management's hand will be forced.
Congress doesn't need to get involved because the market will fix itself. If you want it to work more efficiently then participate in some of those grassroots efforts to help hurry the process along...
posted by Jim | 8:46 PM
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