“Sequels suck, whether you’re making them or watching them.” So mentioned one storied filmmaker in rejecting a wealthy film deal (particulars beneath), and he’d doubtless react the identical if supplied Biden vs. Trump.
The New Hampshire major outcomes this week bolstered media alarm over a projected 2024 rerun that might fracture scores and scale back print protection to “meaningless dribble,” within the phrases of 1 writer.
Can there be a repair? Mark Thompson, the brand new CNN chief who has seen half his linear viewers disappear, optimistically guarantees a digital upheaval not solely in election protection however past.
On the print aspect, nonetheless, chaos prevails: The Los Angeles Times has misplaced its prime editors and roughly half of its information employees and offered off the San Diego Union-Tribune. Meanwhile, the Baltimore Sun, as soon as additionally owned by the Times, has been acquired by Sinclair, a TV station behemoth whose chief, David Smith, believes political protection is “too left wing.”
Clearly, the information enterprise urgently wants some star worth to ramp up viewers curiosity and Ron DeSantis hasn’t measured up, whether or not towards Bob Iger or Donald Trump. Nikki Haley delivers her traces forcefully however hasn’t delivered the numbers her donors anticipated.
The Times turmoil in Los Angeles represents a poignant microcosm of the nationwide print malaise. Its prospects have been bolstered six years in the past when a biotech billionaire Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong introduced his $500 million acquisition of the Times and Union-Tribune — a choice that, general, has truly price him a billion {dollars}, he mentioned this week.
With losses nonetheless working at over $40 million a 12 months, the scale of his newsroom has been slimmed down from 1,200 to 550, with additional cuts attainable.
The South African-raised tycoon this week noticed his management staff implode – his editor, Kevin Merida, and his information room chief, Sara Yasin, have been each passed by week’s finish. Also leaving are the Washington bureau chief, his deputy, the enterprise editor and many of the photograph division.
Where D.C. and Hollywood Converge – CLICK HERE
Some 90% of the information employees refused to come back to work final Friday as a protest towards cutbacks – a employees that was successful applause for its inclusiveness.
Given these struggles, the media should now determine the right way to energize the information, and the melodramas, of the presidential sequel. Confronted with scores declines, how will the TV anchors cope with rhetorical reruns and the way will reality checkers keep away from sounding like scolds on steroids?
Clearly, previous methods aren’t working. Debates don’t draw viewers, and even debaters. The punditry featured on MSNBC is as staunchly predictable as these on Fox News, with CNN now struggling to seek out some calm centrists.
Last 12 months’s efforts at diversification have confirmed problematic. Soon-Shiong admitted frustration over failed makes an attempt to create a Times Studio to develop podcasts and documentaries. CNN’s Thompson says he’s disturbed that his community has “failed to provide a compelling video-led news experience for viewers under 40, who have thus been depending for their news on generic video and social apps.”
The grim actuality: Sequels are confounding, regardless of the medium or the message, as historical past reminds us. When Francis Coppola was supplied the prospect to direct a Godfather sequel in 1972 he petulantly rejected the concept, declaring: “When a filmmaker succumbs to sequels, it’s proof he has exhausted his inventory of fresh ideas.”
Nothing would change his thoughts, he mentioned. A verify for $1 million plus the promise of full inventive management prompted his swerve.
Ultimately, The Godfather Part II surpassed expectations amongst critics and audiences. It’s tough to seek out related optimism about Biden-Trump II.
Nonetheless, he nonetheless adheres to his perspective.