Legacy Media’s Ratings Catastrophe: Left-Wing Propaganda Machines Crumble as Truth-Seekers Flee – Whatfinger News' Choice Clips
Whatfinger News' Choice Clips

Legacy Media’s Ratings Catastrophe: Left-Wing Propaganda Machines Crumble as Truth-Seekers Flee

In a  post that captured the essence of America’s growing disdain for biased journalism (above) “Call me old fashioned but I bet they would do a lot better if they told the truth for once,” in response to a chart highlighting the precipitous drop in web traffic for major media outlets from July 2024 to July 2025. The graphic, shared by real estate analyst  @JohnWake , revealed jaw-dropping declines: Forbes down 39%, CNN plummeting 32%, MSNBC sinking 29%, NPR tumbling 28%, and even The New York Times and The Washington Post suffering losses of 24% and 21%, respectively. Meanwhile, independent platforms like Substack surged 27% and X climbed 16%, signaling a mass exodus from legacy media’s echo chambers. This isn’t just a blip—it’s a full-blown ratings apocalypse, with left-wing outlets bearing the brunt of the collapse.

As conservatives have long argued, years of peddling hoaxes, suppressing stories, and outright lying have eroded trust, leaving these once-dominant networks gasping for relevance in a post-Trump victory era where Americans demand unfiltered facts over progressive spin. The numbers don’t lie, even if the mainstream media does. Fox News Channel, the beacon of balanced reporting in a sea of leftist bias, has not only weathered the storm but dominated it. In the third quarter of 2025, Fox News averaged 2.9 million primetime viewers, outpacing broadcast giants like ABC and CBS while marking its third-highest Q3 in history.

This surge secured Fox a staggering 73% share of the primetime cable news audience post-election, as viewers flocked to programming that doesn’t treat them like idiots. Shows like “The Five” continued to shatter records, attracting more eyeballs than major sporting events like the Ryder Cup or NASCAR races. In stark contrast, CNN and MSNBC—hallmarks of far-left activism masquerading as journalism—hit rock bottom. CNN’s primetime demo ratings cratered to their lowest in network history at just 87,000 in the 25-54 age group, while MSNBC scraped by with a pitiful 66,000, its worst since the late 1990s.

These aren’t minor dips; they’re existential threats, with both networks declining double digits across all key demographics. Drill deeper, and the pattern is clear: the more progressive the outlet, the steeper the fall. CNN, under the thumb of woke executives, averaged a measly 374,000 viewers in late May to early June 2025, a humiliating low that underscores its role as a propaganda arm for Democrats. This far-left network, infamous for spreading disinformation and anti-Semitic rhetoric, has seen its carriage fees evaporate as cable cutters abandon ship, with advertising revenue likely in freefall. MSNBC fares no better, with its revamped lineup floundering spectacularly. Jen Psaki’s “The Briefing,” a showcase of Biden-era spin, shed 47% of the audience from its predecessors, averaging under a million viewers since its May debut.

The network’s overall primetime haul post-election? A pathetic 702,000 viewers, down 47%, with the key demo hemorrhaging over half its pre-election numbers. Nicolle Wallace’s afternoon slot, a hotbed of anti-Trump hysteria, plunged 25% in 2025 compared to the prior year, averaging just 1.1 million viewers as even loyal liberals tune out the endless doom-mongering. This ratings bloodbath isn’t accidental—it’s the direct result of a credibility crisis conservatives have exposed for years. Legacy media’s obsession with Trump-bashing, from the Russia collusion hoax to downplaying Biden’s cognitive decline, has backfired spectacularly. As one expert noted, these networks face a “serious credibility problem” after relentlessly pushing narratives that crumbled under scrutiny.

CNN and MSNBC didn’t just lose Trump as their ratings crutch; they alienated viewers by assuring leftists of their moral superiority while ignoring real issues like inflation, border chaos, and crime—problems amplified under Democrat rule. Now, with Trump back in the White House, the walls-are-closing-in hoaxes have evaporated, leaving these outlets with exhausted audiences tuning out in droves. MSNBC’s Joy Reid, fired amid the purge, clashed with critics over her dismal ratings, but the truth is inescapable: propaganda doesn’t pay when facts prevail. Even print behemoths aren’t immune. The New York Times, that bastion of elite liberalism, saw its traffic nosedive alongside its broadcast counterparts, as subscribers revolt against paywalls and partisan drivel. Trust in mainstream media hit rock bottom in 2024, with only 31% of Americans expressing confidence—a nadir that carried into 2025 as outlets like NYT doubled down on identity politics over investigative journalism.

The Corporate Media Has Become the Left’s Propaganda Arm — And Victor Davis Hanson Just Exposed It All

CBS News, mired in controversies like anchor Margaret Brennan’s attacks on free speech, remains “adrift” with plummeting ratings, unable to shake its left-wing baggage. The censorship-industrial complex, where big tech and government collude to silence conservative voices, has only accelerated this decline, as small independent outlets thrive while legacy giants wither. Conservatives point to a simple fix: tell the truth. As @0x49fa98 suggested, honesty could revive these dying dinosaurs, but that’s unlikely in an industry wedded to Democrat agendas. Instead, we’re witnessing a paradigm shift. Fox News not only topped cable but outperformed broadcast networks in primetime, with 2.7 million viewers trouncing ABC, NBC, and CBS while CNN hit its lowest-rated week of 2025. Gutfeld! reigns as late-night king with 3.1 million viewers, dwarfing Colbert’s flailing show, which faced cancellation amid viewer apathy.

This dominance extends to total day, where Fox’s 95 consecutive quarters as cable news leader highlight its appeal to a broad audience, including Democrats and women who seek fairness over fury. The left’s media meltdown is poetic justice. Democrats’ Monty Python-esque denial of electoral defeats—clinging to narratives despite overwhelming evidence—has alienated even their base. As MSNBC spins off from NBC amid corporate divorce and CNN braces for layoffs, the future looks bleak for these echo chambers. Especially since losing much of their money from scammed USAID projects that the Democrats used to find many of these outlets. Thanks to Elon Musk and Doge, those funds are drying up fast.

Substack’s boom proves demand for authentic voices, not scripted smears. In this ratings rout, the more left an outlet leans, the faster it sinks, proving that propaganda has an expiration date. Americans are voting with their remotes and clicks, crushing the legacy media’s stranglehold and ushering in an era where truth triumphs over bias. Outlets like Whatfinger News links to them all, making it an ultra-attractive asset which by the way, now outperforms many of the ‘Legacy’ news outlets by simply letting the readers see all the news at will. They know what to believe once they read about any topic out there. It is the Left that does not trust readers, and prefers their indoctrination and miseducation tactics that they have gotten away with for decades. I am biased since I’m one of the editors at Whatfinger News, but the proof is put out daily. No news site on the net can match Whatfinger for the amount of news and commentary linked to on a daily basis. 

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