CNN+. That name and the title should tell you all that there is to know about what is going on with it, but earlier this week, CNBC reported that the launch of CNN+ wasn’t quite a barnstormer, with fewer than 10,000 daily users getting into the streaming service. Enough for them to carefully consider the future of the platform. Which is amazing because most people on the street would’ve able to tell them that this was a bad call.
Let’s take it from the top. When CNN launched in 1980, it was unprecedented. The concept of getting 24-hour news coverage was revolutionary. For people who wanted to be up on the latest all day, every day, it was a godsend. And the market reacted accordingly. Over time, and as people quickly realized that top news story don’t actually happen on the hour every hour and need sensationalism to stay relevant, they added panel shows and interest programs in non-business hours to keep it fresh.
Mind, that was ever such a long time ago. Now we have a direct 24 hour news feed in our pockets, and we are literally seeing it tear society apart. People who have recognized it and given it names (doomscrolling being the most amusing to me) are now attempting to stay away from the news unless it is strictly necessary; lest you get upset about a bus crash halfway around the world, reported because there wasn’t one today closer to you. CNN will gladly report that political figures tweeted something. No need to see it on CNN. Twitter’s algorithm will send it to you so that you’re good and well pissed off before you make it to your corn flakes.
In a world where we are trying to balance news with sanity, and where every news item from the genuinely terrifying to the merely curious is reported as the thing that will indeed finally end civilization as we know it, why would you want to pay $6 a month for even more things to scare you into an early grave? Why would anyone when they can get most of the content that they’d get from CNN+ straight from the tweets CNN got it from, or, crucially, the insane person in any office who is insane precisely because they are so plugged in to the news.
But, I hear you thinking, what about their documentaries and investigative journalism pieces. And to that I say. “You’re right.” I have no answer for that. The ethics of pirating it are for another discussion, and unless you do you are at the mercy of CNN deciding to run or upload them somewhere else. If you want to check “Dreamland: The Burning of Black Wall Street” or “SCANDALOUS: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE NATIONAL ENQUIRER” (emphasis theirs), you should be able to find them on CNN+ (I think, I’m not paying to find out) However, if the numbers are to be believed, there aren’t very many people that feel as passionately as you are. At least, not enough for the powers that be to put some serious questions upon the future of the platform.
Also, may I recommend that you research other sources of documentaries?
