One Speech, Many Different Approaches

On June 25, President Barack Obama delivered a big speech on the issue of climate change. The speech ended up making clear the filters through which the cable news channels approach a news item.

When the President began speaking shortly after 1:45 PM ET, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News and, yes, The Weather Channel, were carrying the speech. Bloomberg and Fox Business also carried it. Weather, FBN and Bloomberg were the only channels to carry it in full (or in the case of Bloomberg almost full), without talking over the President. The proposals are definitely a big business story, so it is not surprising that FBN and Bloomberg covered (and it is surprising that CNBC chose not to). CNN, MSNBC and Fox News tended to focus on the politics, with MSNBC noting the challenges the President faces, CNN noting that his proposals were “generating controversy” among Republicans and FNC focusing on the politics of climate change, barely touching the proposals.