Paramount Skydance CEO has repeatedly cited the statistic when laying out the approach that CBS News and potentially CNN would take
During an early March appearance on CNBC, the Paramount Skydance chief executive, David Ellison, cited a statistic he has come to rely on when laying out his editorial approach for CBS News and, potentially, the cable network he has made a deal to own, CNN. The young media mogul said the networks will prioritize reaching “the 70% of Americans and really around the world that identify as center-left, as center-right”.
The idea of an unaddressed center ground is a powerful talking point. In a world of increasingly partisan politics, Ellison’s promise to address the unheard, silent majority packs a punch – and fits nicely with the approach of one of his most high-profile lieutenants, the heterodox commentator Bari Weiss.
Unfortunately, it appears that Ellison’s 70% figure is not supported by publicly available polling data on the ideological orientation of Americans.
A recent YouGov survey – conducted last fall and published in January – found that only 40% of US adult citizens identify as “center-left”, “center” or “center-right”, not 70%.
The majority of Americans are non-ideological in that they either align with the ideology of the state or have an incoherent hodge-podge of heterodox ideas.
You’re probably right. So if most Americans are either non-ideological or heterodox, what would the orthodox ideology be?
Currently in flux, but it has been neoliberalism. Trump’s second term has been shifting the orthodoxy towards neoconservative fascism. When I say that someone is non-ideological what I mean is that they do not have a personal commitment to any particular ideology, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have an alignment. People who don’t have ideological commitments often align with the state and have a loosely connected set of orthodox views, and if they don’t then they instead have a loosely connected set of heterodox views.
I agree. I wonder what will follow. Neoconservativism and Fascism are both failed systems. It’s only a matter of time before they fail this time, too. I wonder if the failure of Neoconservativism/Fascism will lead to so many crises that there will be a collapse of the current global order, specifically US hegemony. Could that lead to the Chinese model becoming the new preferred paradigm?
And as far as here in the US, well, maybe when this is an over there won’t be a US anymore. But if there is, I wonder what the next dominant ideology will be.
I wouldn’t dare speculate lest I end up as crazy as Professor Jiang.
Lol, yeah he’s quite the prognosticator. He also seems to be getting pretty popular, which I think is a little concerning.