The Darkness of Divisiveness

Update [2005-6-29 10:13:59 by susanhu]: Sent to me by JPol aka Jerry: Media Life reports that “Bush’s Iraq speech tanks with public — Only 19 million tune in across four networks.” (Story below the fold.)

“Howard Dean, chairman of the [DNC], said Bush’s 30-minute speech showcased ‘the darkness of divisiveness, attempting to garner support for his failed policies by pandering to fear, rather than inspiring us with a plan for hope.'” – from the UPI story via HowieInSeattle.

Among the headlines this morning:

Bush slammed for Iraq link to 9/11, CNN Int’l
Bush Flops in Prime Time, The Dissident
US faces catch-22 as President rallies support, The Age (Australia)
Bush criticized for linking 9/11, Iraq, Xinhua (China)
Bush ‘exploiting 9/11’, News 24 (So. Africa)
Bush Condemned for Bid to Link War with 9/11, Scotsman (UK)
More headlines via Google News

Update [2005-6-29 10:11:26 by susanhu]:

Bush’s Iraq speech tanks with public

Only 19 million tune in across four networks

When the White House said Monday that President Bush would be giving a speech Tuesday night, several networks balked, wondering if carrying the speech would be worth rearranging their entire schedule.

NBC, Fox and CBS finally relented late yesterday, but the speech did indeed throw off television viewership, with low numbers for the speech and low numbers for several premieres.

President Bush’s 8 p.m. update on the war in Iraq averaged just 19.13 million total viewers on the big four broadcast networks, ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox, according to Nielsen overnights.

That’s down 41 percent from the 32.75 million who watched Bush on the Big Four during a primetime press conference in April, though that speech took place on the first night of May sweeps, when television viewership overall was higher.

Last night’s address drew 21.8 percent fewer viewers than Bush’s State of the Union address in January, which brought in 26.6 million total viewers via the Big Four.