Vaxword: The question that needs to be answered is not whether cable news chiefs can keep their jobs, but where is CNN?
This question is exactly what gets the gossip mill rolling. It’s juicy. But this point is missed.
The real question is, how should CNN cover the news? What is the path and mission for the defined media property that is critical to the health of our democracy?
Or to put it most plainly: what is a CNN?
As a nation, we no longer tune into the network evening news and there is no defined, reliable voice in morning, evening or late-night broadcasts. Decision makers and pundits of all stripes watch cable news. Ratings leader Fox News Channel has proven itself to be a moral cesspool of conspiracy and misinformation. MSNBC is decidedly left-leaning and is best defined as the antidote to Fox. CNN – Well, there’s a lane available (and needed) for reporting in the middle of the road if the network can find it.
This has not happened yet.
CNN made a lot of mistakes during the run-up to Trump’s presidency, and I lay that at the feet of Jeff Zucker, who did endless live coverage of Trump’s rallies. But I would argue that during the Trump presidency, CNN had little choice but to push back on the attack on democracy, journalism and government.
The challenge now is how to define a street that can be trusted, appeals to a broad audience and doesn’t cave in to the Trump mob, determined to harm our democratic institutions. Is.
The piece had nearly endless fodder to sift through, which, unsurprisingly, allowed reporter Tim Alberta almost unlimited access to Licht (PR chief Matt Dornick is surely regretting the decision): Audie Cornish’s All hands in leadership at an internal company where reporters challenged the boss, backstage at the disastrous Trump town hall where Licht admitted to welcoming the Trumpy crowd, a 6 a.m. workout in which the trainer turned out to be one of Licht’s key advisors.
How all of this was allowed to happen – and continued even as bad things were happening for Licht since October when Alberta started reporting – is a mind-boggling thing.
Top takeaways for those who don’t want to read the whole thing (though I recommend it, it’s an amazing piece of journalism):
* Licht is living in a bunker mindset, but it’s unclear who is mentoring her besides her trainer, Joe Masonette.
* David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, with a clear mandate to move CNN to the right, is relentlessly shoving it down Licht’s neck despite all protests to the contrary — which in his mind means center.
* CNN is unclear on the newsroom mission, road map or programming strategy that will lead them forward. (Alberta: “Every employee I spoke with was asking some variation of the same question: Did Licht know what he was doing?”)
* Large parts of the CNN newsroom are skeptical of Licht and his ability to lead. His credibility was further damaged by the disastrous Trump town hall – with some brave souls (Christian Amanpour, Oliver Darcy) being vocal in their criticism. (Litch’s response: “These are journalists, so there’s really nothing you can do… Tell Which will reduce the worry. You have to show them. So the whole purpose of today is really like, ‘Hey, have a plan. That’s what we’re going to do. That’s how it’s going to involve you. It is a sense of purpose. That’s the strategy.'”)
*Licht’s programming decisions have not yielded ratings results, and have not been affected by his creativity or originality.
So the man is in trouble, that’s for sure. So far, WBD corporate has quietly reiterated with mantra-like devotion that it is going to take time to transform CNN, that Zaslav intends to give Licht that time and that they are measuring performance over years rather than months or weeks. .
he changed. Zaslav Lt. David Levy’s appointment last week as COO of CNN Global — making him responsible for business decisions — makes that much clear.
A Warner Bros. Discovery insider acknowledged that “not everything has gone well” over the past year, and Levy’s arrival was meant to “stabilize the situation” and allow the newsroom to focus on journalism. They’ll have their chance to do that, and we’ll see what’s learned from the upcoming town hall with Nikki Haley and Mike Pence.
But for me the issue is not so licht, although his decisions over the past year have not particularly served him.
His pious declarations about the sanctity of “truth” (quote: “Yes, I believe in absolute truth.”) and the need for fact-based journalism are noble and just. He believes the cornerstone ethic of traditional journalism – you tell your audience the facts and let them decide – isn’t outlandish, it just isn’t enough.
The problem is – what will work? It’s not clear how to do mainstream, traditional journalism on cable news at this point. If Licht didn’t do it properly, it’s not clear that anyone else knows how to.
The notion of Trump as the Republican nominee is daunting to any self-respecting journalist. And after the impeached former president mishandled a well-dressed Kaitlan Collins, dishing out lie after lie and insult after injury, it’s clear he can’t be managed like any other on-air politician.
CNN insiders know that the value of the brand has always been in its ability to gather news. The network excels at that, and always has, and neither MSNBC nor Fox can lay a glove on CNN when it comes to global news reports.
How to turn this into an audience greater than Newsmax, much less Fox News, is the challenge.
In our age of fragmented political discourse, with a distracted, politically divided, mistrustful audience – finding that “middle lane” is the challenge.
