Cable TV Content Analysis

The News of the Day in Cable (and Differences Among the Channels)

The more we study, the more the cable channels begin to look distinct from one another. On May 11, indeed, they differed more in what they covered than the broadcast networks did. On CNN, the plane scare was dominant. Fox focused more on the grisly murder case in Illinois . MSNBC was the most interested of the channels in Macaulay Culkin’s testimony at Michael Jackson’s molestation trial, a story, interestingly, that its sister broadcast, the NBC Nightly News, didn’t even mention.

Morning News on Cable

The feel of morning news on cable is different from the networks. While the tone is similarly informal and chatty, absent are the softer lifestyle subjects such as cooking tips or tools for the garden. Instead, cable focuses on topics geared more toward people interested in politics and getting a jump on current events of the day. And that chatty weatherman mixing with folks in the street is nowhere to be found. Rather than offer emotional reactions to stories, the reporters and anchors are more prone to offer political views.

CNN

Viewers starting their day with CNN’s “American Morning” got a quick dose of hard news. The program, from 7 to 8 a.m., led with a taped package on the situation in Iraq, a story that the network morning shows would skip, followed by a story that resembled the network offerings — a taped package on the Zion murders. The story would even feature the same source as the network stories, the local prosecutor Michael Waller.

Next, viewers got a discussion of an unexploded grenade found where President Bush had given a speech in the former Soviet republic of Georgia . The story would be a minor item in newspapers, yet was a staple of morning shows on cable and network. As it turned out, what CNN offered here was identical to what the networks did. Bill Hemmer, a CNN anchor (who later moved to Fox) interviewed a former Secret Service agent, Joseph Petro — the same person interviewed on two of the three broadcast networks that morning.

For its fourth piece, however, CNN offered something more distinctive, a segment on a Swiss study of global warming reported by the correspondent Miles O’Brien in the studio. It was one of the few items on any morning cable program that was not about breaking news.

Finally, CNN’s grumpy Everyman, Jack Cafferty, appeared to pose his question of the day: whether United Airlines should be allowed to default on its pensions. That was the one segment that allowed viewers to get involved in the news. And Cafferty was quick to offer his own view. He had no doubt that executives of large corporations normally get a “huge golden parachute” and “you can bet they’re not going to suffer, not like the employees will.”

Cable Morning Shows: Lead Stories and Type of Coverage

Fox

Over on Fox News’s “Fox and Friends,” viewers on May 11 got a program constructed quite differently. In the 7 a.m. hour there was just one on-scene report from a correspondent — a live report from the courthouse in Illinois , which broke to a packaged report, and one report (about the unexploded grenade) with the correspondent live from the Washington studio.

The bulk of the program involved the three anchors chatting or reading a teleprompter. With fewer reporters in the field than CNN, Fox relies more on the chemistry and banter of its hosts. At the same time, that may be one reason why its morning program seems more a distinct program than simply another part of the cable channel’s day.

The story lineup was even more government focused-than CNN’s. There were multiple reports on the grenade near Bush in Georgia . There was a segment on a bill to require identification tags for illegal immigrants. The violence in Iraq was a brief “tell” story.

Another difference on Fox in the morning is that it has abandoned the more disinterested neutral voice of traditional broadcasting. It is a clearly American channel, with the U.S. government frequently referred to in the first person plural — “we” and “us.” In Fox’s lead story of the morning, the case of the grenade in Georgia , E.D. Hill, speaking not of herself or Fox News but of American officials, said, “Our people haven’t been able to look at it. So they (Georgian officials) keep counseling us. We haven’t been able to say it’s a hand grenade. We don’t know what it is exactly.”

Viewers also got a sense of point of view in the choice of stories and in the way they were handled. That came through in a subject not found on CNN or MSNBC during the hour — an interview with Gary Aldrich, president of the Patrick Henry Center , a foundation to promote “individual liberty” and known for its conservatives views. They discussed Steve Gardner, one of the Swift Boat Veterans who was critical of John Kerry in the 2004 Presidential election campaign. Steve Gardner, Aldrich said, was “the only Swift Boat veteran who served on the boat that John Kerry commanded. So he was in a unique position to observe John Kerry up close and personal.” The Fox anchor Steve Doocy then added that Gardner was fired from his job after appearing in commercials. “We had him on our program. Right after he got on TV, and said all that stuff, he got fired.” No other source offering a differing view was mentioned.

Fox fleshed out its morning coverage with a sports round-up from one of the hosts and a brief host discussion of the episode of “American Idol” coming up that night. The final segment was an interview between E.D. Hill and the executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank that studies the effects on immigration on the U.S. , over a new administration program to cover some health costs of illegal immigrants. The director, Mark Krikorian, was clearly critical of the administration.

MSNBC

MSNBC’s offering at this hour is not television per se at all, it’s the radio program “Imus in the Morning,” filmed. And it’s all about opinions and views — those of the veteran DJ Don Imus.

The top of the hour offered a few news headlines read by Imus’s sidekick Charles McCord — brief updates on Iraq , the congressional spending bill, the Zion murders, and another multiple murder, in New Mexico .

Mostly, the program was about the mind of Imus, especially his likes and dislikes. He was disgusted, for instance, over the Rolling Stones announcing another tour — “they’ve got to stop flopping around on the stage like a chicken on crack….it looks like your crazy grandparents for talent night at the old folks home, doesn’t it?” And he loved NBC collegue Tim Russert, host of his sister channel’s Sunday talk program “Meet the Press.” The largest chunk of the hour was spent in a phone interview with Russert. He and Imus discussed Russert’s new book, “Big Russ and Me,” and then moved to Laura Bush’s popularity and how the NBC family supports each other. Imus was unabashed about selling — books, TV shows, movies, and his own mail-order products. On this day it was Russert’s book: “It’s a great book. Not really difficult . . . great idea for Father’s Day or Mother’s Day. I heartily recommend it.” He was also selling Russert, and closed with: “I want you to know: I love you and so does Charles.”