This paper provides insight on the comparison of the two newscasts from a cable news network and a broadcasting network, which are CNN and CBS respectively. The top stories on the two newscasts involves the massive winter storm, Republican politics, and thousands of the flights that has been canceled following the heavy winter storm.
One of the story involves the winter storm that has affected millions of Americans living in the East Coast region. The two newscast seems to differ with the accuracy of their statistics. For instance, according to the CBS This Morning, over seventy million Americans are prone to the effects of this powerful blizzard. On the other hand, CNN reports that more than 85 million Americans will be affected by this deadly winter storm. The difference with the statistic affects the credibility of this story (CNN, 2016). However, the statement from the Mayor Muriel Bowser affirms the severity of the storm. They both agree that the situation is worsened by the sleet, gale-forced winds, freezing rain, and snow. Concerning the amount of time given to air this story, CBS has the longest time of around 4 minutes compared to nearly two minutes for CNN. The core reason for these two news clips is to urge the citizens to remain indoors and avoid roads.
Another story covered by both CNN and CBS reports how thousands of flights have been canceled following the severity of the winter storm. CBS reports that more than 8,280 flights have been canceled and more than 3,350 delayed (CBS, 2016). Although CNN does not provide the exact figure, the reporter suggests that thousands of flights are already canceled. On the presentation, the story has extensively interviewed various travelers to derive the extent to which the storm has affected the flights. Contrary, the story on CBS has only used the reporter in Philadelphia to show the impact of the storm. In this case, the CNN story appears more credible compared to CBS. The amount of airtime given to the CBS story is more than that of CNN, around two minutes and 19 seconds versus one minute and thirty-five seconds respectively.
The third story covered by both the CNN and CBS highlights on the Republican Politics and especially on the Trump's counterpunch strategy. The two newscast reports on how Trump has responded the to the "National Review" Newspaper after publishing a special issue against him. However, there is a small difference in the presentation of the Trump's response. CNN presents the audio response of Trump suggesting that the "National Reviews" is a "dying" paper (CNN, 2016). On the other hand, the CBS shows Trump's tweet stating, "Very few people read the National Review because it only knows how to criticize, but not to lead." The two newscast presents the rivalry between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz as they release new campaign ads that attack each other (CBS, 2016). However, this rivalry takes the center stage of the story on the CBS news. The story on both newscasts is given almost an equal airtime of broadcast of approximately two minutes.
In conclusion, the similarity between the CNN and CBS indicates how the newscasts are covering and opening with similar stories. The stories cover the latest campaign rivalry and impact of the snowstorm. However, the advancement of the Internet and cable enables these newscasts to distinguish themselves by writing the similar stories in different orders and perspective. For instance, where CNN use the evidence of their presentation from Trump's video, CBS acquire evidence of the same story from his Twitter. The two newscast are trying to cover the main similar stories that matter to their audience and give their audience power to make their choice.
References
CBS. (2016, January 23). More than 8,000 flights canceled due to winter storm - Videos - CBS News [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/more-than-8000-flights-canceled-due-to-winter-storm/
CNN. (2016, January 23). Latest News Videos - CNN.com [Video file]. Retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/specials/latest-news-videos
