Semi-Political Observation on Super Tuesday Coverage

[silverscreenselect]

By the end of the evening, CNN was beating the drum for the underdogs in both the Democratic and Republican races, trying to "prove" that Cruz, Rubio, and Sanders all have viable shots. I don't think this was driven by politics as much as by ratings. A contested nomination fight in either party keeps people watching the debates and the election coverage. Once everyone has conceded, it's going to be fairly quiet sailing until the conventions. Ergo, CNN is telling viewers to stay tuned for the next week's cycle of elections.

[elwoodblues]

With their nonstop coverage of Trump the news programs pretty much admitted they only care about ratings.

[SpacemanSpiff]

With their nonstop coverage of Trump the news programs pretty much admitted they only care about ratings.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't there a time not too long ago that debates were considered "news" items akin to Presidential addresses, and therefore didn't have ratings?

Am I hallucinating (always possible), or if not, when did it change? (I can figure out the why.)

[jarnon]

By the end of the evening, CNN was beating the drum for the underdogs in both the Democratic and Republican races, trying to "prove" that Cruz, Rubio, and Sanders all have viable shots. I don't think this was driven by politics as much as by ratings. A contested nomination fight in either party keeps people watching the debates and the election coverage. Once everyone has conceded, it's going to be fairly quiet sailing until the conventions. Ergo, CNN is telling viewers to stay tuned for the next week's cycle of elections.

I'm bothered by this too:

The media portray contests as closer than they really are to make their story more interesting. Four years ago, Gingrich, Cain, Santorum and others were all called front-runners.

In general, I hate the way TV hypes the news to increase ratings. In some cases, like storm forecasts, it disrupts peoples' lives.

[SpacemanSpiff]

One thing I was surprised at here in Virginia was that it was a relatively close race between Mr. Trump and Mr. Rubio; Trump won, but by less that 3%. Equally surprising was how poorly Ted Cruz ended up. Delegates from here ended up with Trump - 17, Rubio - 16, Cruz - 8, Kasich - 5, and Carson - 3.

Hilary's support isn't surprising in the south, although keep in mind that (at least in Virginia) it was an open primary, so any Joe Voter (like me) could vote for one party or the other. Remember my joke a few weeks ago about Hilary getting the minority vote in New Hampshire? She's dominating that demographic down in the south.