November 4, 2003
If you still think of the networks as liberal, you should take a look at how and why CBS dropped its miniseries on the Reagans. It's hard to see this as anything but a capitulation to widespread conservative condemnation - surely a sign that 1) the networks are motivated by money, not politics, and 2) conservative viewers form a massive and massively important block that the networks are acutely aware of.
The "Tiffany Network" has become increasingly craven. There have been lapses in their courage before (such as the cancelling of "The Smothers Brothers" 30-some years ago), but CBS had been the network of quality and courageous journalism.
I think the moment it all changed was when 60 Minutes killed the Jeffrey Weigand piece on smoking. From that point on, the network has increasingly lost it's way. This is just the latest in a series of missteps. But what do we expect when the FCC no longer treats the airwaves as a public resource, but treats them rather as the private property of the networks?
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