Let’s have a show of hands – how many of you consider CNN your favorite source of news?
Among 1819 News readers, my guess is that’s approximately zero.
And with good reason:
Allsides.com once rated CNN’s online content “Lean Left,” but in 2021, they moved CNN to “Left” based upon a survey and upon Allsides’ own editorial review. By way of comparison, Allsides rates the online versions of ABC, CBS, NBC News and NPR as “Leans Left,” along with the New York Times News and Politico; BBC, Forbes and Newsweek as “Center”; National Review News and the New York Post as “Leans Right”; and Breitbart, Fox and Newsmax as “Right.”
A 2017 study by scholars from the Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy found that CNN’s news coverage of President Trump’s first 100 days in office was 93% negative.
Whatever the reason, CNN’s prime-time audience dropped 47% since the November 2024 election, while the Fox News prime-time audience remained nearly constant. The reason, writer Adrian Volenik suggests, is that CNN attempts to appear neutral while obviously being partisan. As a result, “A growing number of viewers no longer trust the network,” Volenik says.
Fox consistently draws a larger viewing audience than CNN, even though some cable networks like Sling refuse to carry Fox and some satellite networks seem to favor CNN over Fox. Also, in public areas like hospitals and airports, the televisions are usually set on CNN. But that’s not what most people watch when given a choice.
But while CNN is falling into disfavor with the general public, it has a captive audience in many public schools. “CNN 10 is a daily news show for students over 13 or other viewers who want to learn about current events and global issues in 10 minutes or less,” CNN says. “We represent all sides of a story equally: no opinion, no slant, just the facts. And we have a little fun while doing it!”
Some reviewers claim CNN 10 does not reflect the leftist bias of CNN itself, but others are not convinced. In February 2022, the Norwin, Penn. School Board voted 5-4 to drop the requirement that teachers show CNN 10 to their students, giving them the option of showing patriotic videos instead. As the mother of one student said, CNN 10 is “feeding [her son] every day that CNN is a label you can trust,” noting “that the program recommends that students ‘visit our friends on CNN.com.’” If students watch CNN 10 in school, they are more likely to watch CNN as adults. The Indian River School District in Delaware also imposed a ban on showing CNN 10 in their schools.
At the Sept. 14, 2024, meeting of the Alabama Republican Executive Committee, committee member Diana Crews of Geneva, Ala., presented a resolution urging the governor to issue an executive order “to get rid of CNN 10 that is in our schools daily as they have proven to have espoused lies,” going on to note, “We now see the manipulation of our students and we cannot naively ‘trust’ such media to have a seat in our schools with impressionable minds of those who will [soon] have the power to vote and change our future, our Republic.”
The resolution passed with 82% of the vote.
This resolution deserves our support. Some might call it censorship, but public education shapes the minds of our children. The people of Alabama, those who pay the taxes to fund the public schools and those who send their children to those schools, should have a voice in what school children are taught. At the very least, CNN 10 should be balanced with other news sources.
If Ivey won’t act to break CNN 10’s monopoly on public education, others should step in. Under Article XIV of the Alabama Constitution, the Alabama Legislature has plenary authority over public education, including the authority to regulate curriculum. Although subordinate to the Alabama Legislature, the State Board of Education also has authority over curriculum, as do local school boards.
Readers, you don’t trust CNN for your news. Why would you trust CNN with your children?
Colonel Eidsmoe serves as Professor of Constitutional Law for Oak Brook College of Law & Government Policy, Senior Counsel for the Foundation for Moral Law, and Pastor of Woodland Presbyterian Church of Notasulga, AL (www.woodlandpca.org). He may be contacted for speaking engagements at eidsmoeja@juno.com.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to Commentary@1819news.com.
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