Staff Reports
In the wild and wacky world of cable news, things can change faster than you can say “breaking news!” Just ask Joy Reid, who recently found herself packing up her desk and heading out the door. It seems like since President Trump left office, a lot of the so-called “Trump haters” have been shown the exit sign by CNN and MSNBC. Coincidence? Well, some folks are whispering that the Orange Man himself might have made a few strategic phone calls to nudge these changes along. After all, it seems that running a successful news show isn’t much different from running any other type of business: you’ve got to have an audience, and you’ve got to give them something they want to watch. The ratings, as they say, have spoken.
Rachel Maddow, another iconic name in the media, isn’t exactly immune to the winds of change either. Even though she’s been a heavyweight at MSNBC, her prime-time show is transitioning to a weekly format after previously airing nightly. The call for more diversity on networks like MSNBC is growing louder, too, with some critics suggesting the high-profile hosts with currently dwindling shows step aside for new voices. It’s a thorny issue that even the queen of prime-time TV seems to dance around—no one’s volunteering to give up their comfy chair.
Enter Jen Psaki, former White House Press Secretary, and MSNBC’s latest attempt at reinvigorating its prime-time lineup. With big shoes to fill as she takes over a prime-time slot, Psaki managed to grab viewers’ attention at first. But that initial curiosity quickly dwindled, leaving the network scratching its head as her ratings tumbled off a cliff. Viewers, it seems, aren’t thrilled about tuning into a network face that had been part and parcel of the Biden administration’s media strategy. All of a sudden, reruns of Paw Patrol and classics like Friends are more appealing than the inside scoop from Washington insiders. Ouch.
The swift decline of Psaki’s show only highlights a larger truth: a new coat of paint can’t cover up deeper issues, like mistrust between media and viewers. The cozy relationship between news networks and political parties is not what audiences are looking for, no matter how “inside” the scoop claims to be. Nope, more viewers seem to vote with their remote and hit that skip button instead.
What can we learn from this cable chaos? Perhaps the simple lesson is that no amount of political insider access will trump the need for honesty and transparency in reporting. Savvy viewers are dialing down on shows that feel more like PR campaigns than news. And as these networks grapple to regain trust, they might do well to remember that audiences aren’t just numbers—they’re people, and like any good relationship, they want something real. In the end, sometimes the best advice comes from that adage: keep it simple, keep it honest, and, well, always keep it entertaining.
