Hardball host Chris Matthews argued that because of the rise of opinion-based news networks, the non-critical aspect of the media is gone, going as far to say that the reporting that verified the U.S. administration’s claims about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq in 2002 would not happen today because of cable news.
Advertisement“I would like to think there would be a reckoning we didn’t have then because of modern media,” Matthews said. “Twenty-four/seven is good because it’s not only breadth, it’s depth. Without cable, it is just network [television] thinking, embedded thinking, which is dangerous in a democracy.”
According to an attendee, King pulled no punches when it came to CNN’s ratings situation, acknowledging that it was having issues. Fellow CNNer Piers Morgan moderated a discussion with his Time Warner colleague Conan O’Brien to a packed house this morning, and began with a quip about how he hadn’t had that many people watching him in a long time.