Notice A Trend?

• February 10, 2007

Stephen Bainbridge notes that the Wall Street Journal’s online subscription service (of which I am a subscriber) is profitable, which is something of an anomaly among online editions of print newspapers. It may well be the only subscription online version of a print newspaper that is actually turning a profit.
Why is that interesting? Because of Rush Limbaugh, The New York Post and Fox News, all of which are dominant (or near the top) in their respective flavors of media.
Rush Limbaugh is the unchallenged king of talk radio, which in and of itself is a format dominated by conservatives. Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, etc. Liberal attempts to move into this market have been mediocre, at best, and total failures at worst.
The Rupert Murdoch-owned New York Post is the 4th largest newspaper in America (behind the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and L.A. Times, USA Today is actually the largest, but I refuse to acknowledge that publications motel-and-restaurant-inflated circulation or even acknowledge it as a newspaper) and has the added distinction of being the only newspaper in the country with growing circulation numbers.
Another Murdoch property, Fox News, is the current cable news heavyweight, with ratings numbers that are usually more than double it’s nearest competitor CNN.
Add in to all this the fact that the Wall Street Journal is the second largest newspaper in terms of circulation (the largest in my book) and has the only profitable online subscriber service among American newspapers and one begins to see a trend. The conservative or right-leaning media seems to be floating to the top.
Now don’t get me wrong, this isn’t to suggest that right-leaning media dominates in the media industry. For every Fox News there is a CNN, MSNBC, NBC, CBS and ABC. For every Wall Street Journal there is the New York Times, L.A. Times, Washington Post, Reuters and Associated Press. But still, it’s interesting when there’s a conservative outlet in a media market it tends to dominate.
I wonder why that is? I think it could be that conservatives, preferring to get their news from right-leaning sources, tend to gravitate toward the few like-minded media outlets available to them. Liberal-minded people have many more choices when it comes to that sort of thing.

Tags: Media, Politics

http://sayanythingblog.com/ likwidshoe

Notice that the left refers to conservatives as “fringe”. How can one be “fringe” while dominating the market?
http://vdvfamily.com/ Sphagnum

Makes perfect sense to me. There is much more competition for the “liberal” media consumers and always has been.
NC Wood

The criticism of USA Today strikes me as gratuitous and elitist. It’s a good newspaper, usually fair — albeit with some huge failures — that fills a legitimate niche. I do think that niche is increasingly filled by the Internet, but the cliched critique of USA Today as McPaper is two decades out of date.
Pablo

Just an addendum:

Visit this 2005 UCLA study, which indicates that the Wall Street Journal is more left leaning than traditionally thought, and that public TV is more conservative than traditionally thought.

Not the most scientific study, but it’s a start, and a quick read.
robert108

Eno: Here’s a lesson in “capitalism” for you. Prosperity is a result of supplying the demand. There is a demand, and an increasing one, for the conservative point of view. There seems to be a decreasing demand for the leftie point of view, especially the extreme leftie point of view. Blogs, being free, are not subject to that market force, and so leftie blogs, especially the hate sites, are overrepresented. When people vote with their dollars, they vote conservative. It’s calling forth more product, which is how our system works.
Eno

Liberals are getting a lesson in capitalism. Conservative publications do better because ther are fewer of them. The market is flooded with the above named liberal media outlets (ABC, CBS, MSNBC ETC.) The conservative media outlets do well because they are the only game in town
Bat One

But still, it’s interesting when there’s a conservative outlet in a media market it tends to dominate.

Rob,

Let’s be clear about what this means. Specifically, when there is a conservative outlet available in the market, a sizable percent, if not a majority, of that market’s consumers choose that conservative outlet. Choose.

And it is this choice on the part of consumers that the Democrats seek to ban with their intended revival of the so-called “Fairness Doctrine.”

This is one of the most basic differences between those on the Left and those on/in the Right. Liberals try to restrict consumers’ choices, usually offering some dishonest justification or another. Conservatives welcome free choice and try to formulate public policies that encourage more freedom and more choices, rather than discourage those choices under the guise of “fairness.”

It’s a pretty significant difference.
http://sayanythingblog.com robport

Well, I certainly didn’t mean to sound elitist. I just don’t think it’s fair for the USA Today to be given credit for circulation numbers that are inflated by all those free copies given away at hotels and restaurants.

And certainly the content isn’t up-to-snuff with the Journal, but that’s just a personal feeling.

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