I have long been an admirer of both Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama. I have bought and read her O magazines and I have his The Audacity of Hope. But I primarily admire their personal narratives. I am also a fan of the Clintons, Hillary and Bill, and she was my preferred candidate for the Democratic Presidential nomination. Those declarations out of the way then, let me get to the point: Ms Winfrey, a long time close friend of Mr. Obama's, screwed up big time when she publicly endorsed Mr Obama on CNN's Larry King Live. The name Oprah is a brand in the same way Apple, Sony, Coca Cola and BMW are brands. You wouldn't see the CEOs of any of those brands coming out in support of any political candidate and it is surprising that none of Ms Winfrey's advisers cautioned her about the public Obama endorsement.
When Mr. King asked why she was doing it now, she replied:
“Because I know him personally,” Ms. Winfrey said. “I think that what he stands for, what he has proven that he can stand for, what he has shown was worth me going out on a limb for – and I haven’t done it in the past because I haven’t felt that anybody, I didn’t know anybody well enough to be able to say, I believe in this person.”
Of course Ms. Winfrey could have found other ways to show her support: financial contributions, using surrogates like Gayle KIng, or invitations to Obama supporters to be on her show, using interview questions to help flesh out his campaign ideas. The point is there is a blurring of distinction between the personal (Oprah Winfrey) and the brand (Oprah). Then throw in race (both Ms. Winfrey and Mr. Obama being black); and gender: by endorsing Mr. Obama Ms. Winfrey was in a sense rejecting the historical candidacy of a woman. True, by winning his party's nomination, Mr. Obama was making his own history by becoming the first black nominee for President. But 75 per cent of Ms. Winfrey's viewers are women and 60 percent of American women who voted in the Democratic primaries, ended up supporting Hillary Clinton's candidacy.
It was not surprising then, that there has been a decline in her audience. As reported in the May 26, 2008 New York Times, Neilsen Media Research said the average audience for "The Oprah Winfrey Show" had fallen nearly 7 per cent in 2008, the third year in a row of decline. It is likely that following the presidential tussle between Mr. Obama and Ms. Clinton, that this will end up being a tumultuous year for "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and Ms. Winfrey. It may turn out that her endorsement was the turning point in Mr. Obama's successful campaign but it may mark the moment her show "jumped the shark". In this context her recent deal with Discovery Communications to launch OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network with a 50-50 cable and web business was brilliant. Did she see the writing on the wall?
No comments:
Post a Comment