LEMON DROP | Bari Weiss' CBS Town Hall with Erika Kirk Raises Questions
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What happened at Erika Kirk’s CBS town hall and why did viewers notice its faith-driven tone?
Did you happen to catch the Charlie Kirk widow, Erica Kirk's town hall on CBS? There were some really bizarre moments.
But we serve a just God. And I rest easy in knowing that. He's sovereign, but he's just. And so let the Lord handle that.
Okay, there's a lot of talk about the Lord and... Anyway, let me walk you through this because... Once you see this town hall and see everything that it was, you really can't unsee it. There's a lot going on here. It's not just about a strange town hall. This is really CBS News. It's about trying to become what they're trying to become and why this whole thing turned so many people off. Most people are kind of making fun of it or saying, well, this is odd, strange. Her behavior was strange. Why is she doing this? Seems like she's gripping. She's been on a media tour. so i have to be honest with you i didn't sit down and watch the entire erica kirk town hall i couldn't i watched the clips i read the transcript and then i looked at how cbs promoted it afterwards and once you put all that together the picture really really gets clear this wasn't just one program this was i think the they wanted it to be the a rollout
Because after that town hall, CBS News flooded the social media with clips, emotional moments, I think we have like a collage of them that they put on social media. These tight close ups, big lines pulled out for maximum impact, you're sick. Tell that to my three year old daughter, we live in a divided country. This is the first of the many conversations that she said. That part really matters because CBS wasn't treating this like this wasn't some tough piece of journalism that they were doing. They were treating this like something that they wanted you to absorb, something that you were supposed to feel. You're supposed to feel this. You're supposed to not question it. And that lines up exactly with...
What was reported afterwards, okay? And this is a great article by Salon, and there's one by Variety as well, that people inside of CBS News, they were already, like, they were not happy about this. They were uneasy about this, that this even aired. And once it did air, the advertisers started asking questions. Like, they weren't quiet about it. They started asking, like, real questions. Like, what is this? Who is this for? Is it really... Is this really CBS News? And then the advertisers answered, and I guess they said no. Watch this take on social media.
erica kirk cost cbs money this is according to variety magazine who said originally cbs planned to run her special town hall on sunday during prime time but they were unable to find advertisers that were willing to advertise their products during that time slot so instead they moved it to the notoriously low watch time of 8 pm on saturday unless you're a sporting event you don't get views for broadcast television And in return, they still could not find anybody who was willing to pay for an advertising slot. So instead, they turned to direct support ads, notoriously low paying ads that are ran usually like Tuesdays for Price is Right or a 50 year old rerun in the middle of the week. Things for gold, superbeets, garlic, even chia pets.
Nothing against chia pets. I think they're great. But you wouldn't expect CBS to run an ad for chia pets in the middle of one of their most highly publicized and highly advertised town halls this year. And this is something that CBS wants to do going forward. But according to Variety magazine, every time they've delved into this type of political realm, the advertisers withdraw. And this time for Erica Kirk, they withdrew faster than they'd ever seen before.
So there you go. And make no mistake about it. This would be in a more and a higher viewed spot in primetime or somewhere else rather than like Saturday. if there were big advertisers and even big interest in it. We'll see what the ratings are. But this town hall, I mean, it was branded as a national conversation. But I mean, I think what people actually saw didn't feel like news. It didn't feel like reporting.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What happened at Erika Kirk’s CBS town hall and why did viewers notice its faith-driven tone?
0:13–7:15
2
How did CBS promote the town hall on social media and shape audience emotions?
7:15–13:03
3
Why did internal CBS staff and advertisers express unease after the broadcast?
13:03–15:34
4
How did advertising pullout and scheduling changes reveal commercial concerns?
15:34–16:39