Shortly afterwards the show corrected its error. The confusion is said to have
arose because when Chief Justice Roberts began reading the decision it
initially sounded like he was overturning the law before announcing it was
to be upheld.
The mistake comes just days after CNN posted 21-year low viewing figures. In
the second quarter of 2012, the network attracted fewer viewers than at any
time in the past two decades.
An average of 446,000 people watched CNN’s prime time programming while
319,000 watch its daytime programming – both 35 per cent drops from the same
period last year. The declines from 2011 are at least twice as severe as
those suffered at its rivals: Fox News and MSNBC.
In a statement, CNN apologised for the error. “In his opinion, chief
Justice Roberts initially said that the individual mandate was not a valid
exercise of congressional power under the Commerce Clause.
“CNN reported that fact, but then wrongly reported that therefore the
court struck down the mandate as unconstitutional. However, that was not the
whole of the court’s ruling.
“CNN regrets that it didn’t wait to report out the full and complete
opinion regarding the mandate. We made a correction within a few minutes and
apologise for the error.”
Fox News made no immediate comment.
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