Giving a commencement speech to graduating students at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism on Wednesday, Christiane Amanpour became the first CNN anchor to publicly criticize the network’s Donald Trump town hall.
In the speech, which was widely noted in the latest Trusted Source newsletter by CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy, Amanpour detailed a conversation he had with CNN CEO Chris Licht about the incident, and then rebutted the primary arguments. Used his speech to do. Licht and other figures at CNN use to defend the town hall from critics.
You can watch the full speech above at the top of the page. Amanpour’s remarks begin after about 40 minutes.
The town hall that aired on Wednesday, May 10, moderated by Tucker Carlson’s former staffer Kaitlan Collins, turned out to be a reputational disaster for CNN. Critics during and after noted how Trump was allowed to lie repeatedly with little pushback on a variety of topics. It was also noted that at one point Trump disparaged E Jean Carroll, who had successfully sued her for sexual harassment and defamation the day before – and he also insulted Collins. In addition to the backlash, the incident may also have contributed to a significant drop in viewership for CNN two days later.
Amanpour set the scene at the beginning of his speech by telling the graduates that journalism, at its core, is “a public service” and that above all it is “about the truth”. Continuing on these concepts, he later stated that a journalist’s role is “to expose injustices, inequalities, human rights abuses and to give the voiceless a chance to be seen and heard, and especially to speak truth to power.”
“Holding the powerful accountable is not just a slogan, it is important. And when we do it well, it makes a difference. And when we don’t, it makes an equal and opposite difference,” she said. “For better and for worse, I’ve always chosen to speak up when it could have been easier to remain silent.”
This inspired him to bring up the town hall. She described how she recently spoke with Licht in person, in what she described as a cordial and candid meeting. And then, Amanpour looked closely at what the event’s defenders had to say.
Those of you who have been paying attention over the past week certainly know that CNN brass believes they have served a public good. Several CNN on-air talents have expressed the same sentiment, including primetime mainstay Anderson Cooper, who held a town hall the day after the show to inform viewers about things they didn’t know about Trump. — and even, inevitably, critics were being shut down. -Brain.
Amanpour didn’t name Cooper, but in her comments she appeared to be answering him directly.
“The fact that the American people voted against Trump 3 times and TrumpIndian system of medicine – 2018, 2020, 2022 – also speaks a lot,” he said. “We’ve done our duty, we’ve told the story, we’ve put it in everyone’s awareness, and people have had the opportunity to make their own choices, And they did.”
“I still respectfully disagree with allowing Donald Trump to appear in that particular format,” she continued. “We know Trump and his tendencies. Everyone does. He simply takes over the stage and dominates. No matter how hard the moderator tries to target the incoming, it often doesn’t work.” For me, I would have dropped the mic on ‘Nasty Person,’ but then that’s me.
Amanpour next addressed the graduating students, and described the town hall as a “well-timed, insightful masterclass” that “could have been done better.”
Noting that his colleagues in the media “still haven’t learned how to cover Donald Trump,” he suggested, “perhaps we should go back to the newspaper editors and TV chiefs of the 1950s who finally brought down McCarthyism.” Refused to allow.” His pages, until his blatant lies, his witch-hunting and his boasting have reached the level of basic evidence required in a court of law.
“His influence gradually waned with everyone but his zealous associates and sectarians,” he said. “Then maybe less is more,” she suggested. “Maybe live isn’t always right.”
Later, Amanpour also offered advice to the graduates: “Be truthful, but not neutral. Bilateralism is not always objectivity. It doesn’t lead you to the truth. To paint a false moral or factual equivalence is neither objective nor true. Objectivity is our golden rule and it’s about weighing all sides and listening to all evidence, but don’t be too quick to equate when there are none.
Amanpour said, “There is a 100% correlation between a strong, free, independent and fair press and a functioning democracy and the advancement of human rights and justice.”
Watch the full thing above.