To perhaps nobody’s surprise, the cable-news networks are taking it on the chin in the post-Trump era.
Since the Don-Don’s departure from office in January, CNN in particular has taken a hit, with ratings in the dumperoo. Huzzah!
(My disdain for CNN is not because it’s left-leaning; after all, much of MSNBC is fine by me. I mind CNN because it’s populated, particularly behind the anchor desks, with demonstrably stupid people who have delusions they’re smart. They’re not.)
The ratings decline is not much of a surprise. In the Don-Don’s time, the network could keep the easily distracted among us tuned in by a never-ending stream of apocalyptic hyperventilating that never challenged the world view of the 1 or 2 percent of the population that found it must-see TV.
These days, the CNN, ahem, “journalists” have nothing to get worked up about. Covering Joe Biden is about as much fun as grass growing or paint drying, particularly when you are not allowed to report on his once-in-a-while gaffes.
What we need is a cable-news channel with my worldview – a view that both political sides should be treated with the contempt they deserve. 24/7 crapping on both sides over the airwaves? Now THAT would keep me tuned in.
(Recall that I am the one who, in an editorial, wrote that Donald Trump and Joe Biden were barely qualified to be competing for the presidency of a senior-living condo complex down in Florida, not for president of the U.S. Readers apparently agreed; the only complaint I got from that elbow was that comparing them to Trump and Biden was surely an insult to the hard-working condo presidents in the Sunshine State.)
RENTS STILL HAVE A WAY TO GO: We’ll have coverage coming up of the monthly Apartment List rental report, which among other parts of the country takes a look at the median rental rates in Arlington as well as D.C.
Teaser alert: In both communities, rents are showing rebounds but have not yet come back to their pre-pandemic levels.
Watch for coverage coming up.
– Scott McCaffrey