Dunaway Weighs In on CNN and MSNBC Postelection Ratings Decline in Wall Street Journal Article

December 18, 2024

The Wall Street Journal

Johanna Dunaway

Political Science Department

Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship

Media & Journalism

Political Parties

U.S. Elections

United States

The Wall Street Journal

Johanna Dunaway

In the wake of Donald Trump's election win, ratings for MSNBC and CNN have dropped while viewers are flocking to Fox News. MSNBC and CNN both reported dips for the month following the 2016 election, but they weren’t nearly as steep.

Partisan viewers “turn away in disgust when it’s the other side having that postelection euphoria,” says Johanna Dunaway, professor of political science and research director of the Syracuse University Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship.

Dunaway says Democrats and Republicans grow disenfranchised with the media and society when their candidates lose. After Biden won in 2020, Fox News’s prime-time viewership fell by 6%. Following Barack Obama’s 2012 win against Mitt Romney in the presidential election, Fox News’s prime-time viewership was down 13%.

Read more in the Wall Street Journal article, “MSNBC and CNN Fight to Dig Out of a Postelection Ratings Hole.”