Many, myself included, were appalled by the news that CNN would give Donald Trump more than an hour on prime time to spew his lies and hatred, which was exactly what he did. For many years, CNN has been considered a reliable news source, but that all began to change last year with a change in ownership and management. What started the network’s decline that culminated this week with their hosting of the wanna-be dictator? Robert Reich gives us the lowdown on what happened ⊠and is continuing to happen ⊠over at CNN.
After last night, anyone still trust CNN?
Chris Licht is full of BS
11 May 2023
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Why in hell did CNN give Donald Trump a full hour of primetime television before an audience of ardent supporters who applauded every lie and laughed at every sexist insult?
The germ of an answer could be found last August, when Chris Licht, CNNâs new chairman and CEO, canceled Brian Stelterâs Sunday show, âReliable Sources,â which had been a reliable source of intelligent criticism of Fox News, rightwing media in general, Trumpism, and the increasingly authoritarian lurch of the Republican party.
Licht also fired Stelter and his staff.
The show had been commercially successful. It was doing better than several of CNNâs primetime shows.
Around the same time, Licht told CNN staff they should stop referring to Donald Trumpâs âbig lieâ because the phrase sounded like a Democratic party talking point. Licht also told the staff he wanted more âstraight news reporting,â along with more conservative guests.
Why?
Follow the money. CNNâs new corporate overseer is Warner Brothers Discovery Inc, whose CEO is David Zaslav.
Zaslav has been pushing Licht to reposition CNN to be a network preferred by âeverybody ⊠Republicans, Democrats.â
But CNN was never going to be the network preferred by Republicans. Fox News has that sewn up.
Besides, facts, data and logic are no longer relevant to the Republican base.
The anti-democracy movement in America is among the biggest issues confronting America today. Is reporting on it considered âstraight newsâ or âopinion?â Wouldnât failing to report on it in a way that sounded alarms be a gross dereliction of duty?
How is it possible to report on Trump and not speak of the big lie, or say theyâve broken norms if not laws?
So, whatâs motivating Zaslav? Keep following the money.
The leading shareholder in Warner Brothers Discovery is John Malone, a multibillionaire cable magnate. (Malone was a chief architect in the merger of Discovery and CNN.)
Malone describes himself as a âlibertarianâ although he travels in rightwing Republican circles. In 2005, he held 32% of the shares of Rupert Murdochâs News Corporation. He is on the board of directors of the Cato Institute. In 2017, he donated $250,000 to Trumpâs inauguration.
Malone has said he wants CNN to be more like Fox News because, in his view, Fox News has âactual journalismâ. Malone also wants the ânewsâ portion of CNN to be âmore centrist.â
Itâs unlikely that Malone instructed Zaslav to tell Licht to fire Stelter. Power isnât exercised that clumsily in large corporate media bureaucracies.
Itâs more likely that Licht knew what Zaslav wanted, and Zaslav knew what Malone wanted. A source told Deadlineâs Dominic Patten and Ted Johnson that even if Malone didnât order Stelterâs ouster, âit sure represents his thinking.â
When you follow the money behind deeply irresponsible decisions at the power centers of America today, the road often leads to rightwing billionaires.
Last year, Stelter wrote in his newsletter that Maloneâs comments about CNN âstoked fears that Discovery might stifle CNN journalists and steer away from calling out indecency and injustice.â
Last August, on his last show, Stelter said:
âItâs not partisan to stand up for decency and democracy and dialogue. Itâs not partisan to stand up to demagogues. Itâs required. Itâs patriotic. We must make sure we donât give platforms to those who are lying to our faces.â
Precisely.
Sadly, there are still many in America â and not just billionaires like Malone â who believe that holding Trump accountable for what he has done (and continues to do) to this country is a form of partisanship, and that such partisanship has no place in so-called âbalanced journalismâ.
This belief is itself dangerous.
After I first criticized Licht for the direction he was pushing CNN, he phoned me. He was angry that I doubted his motives, and said he took the top job at CNN because he âbelieves in journalism.â
When I mentioned the particularly challenging time American journalism now finds itself — with Trump, most of the Republican Party, and most Republican candidates for office denying that the 2020 election was won by Joe Biden, thereby on the way to undermining America democracy â Licht agreed that itâs challenging. He said, emphatically, that this was why he is so deeply committed to restoring CNNâs credibility as an âunbiasedâ source of news that âpeople can feel they can trust.â
Well, Chris, after what you did last night, you can forget the publicâs trust in CNN.