The changes at CNN look politically motivated. That should concern us all

[BidenPresident]

Malone has said he wants CNN to be more like Fox News because, in his view, Fox News has “actual journalism”. Malone also wants the “news” portion of CNN to be “more centrist”.

It’s unlikely that Malone instructed Zaslav to tell Licht to fire Stelter. Power isn’t exercised that directly or clumsily in large corporate media bureaucracies.

It’s more likely that Licht knew what Zaslav wanted, and Zaslav knew what Malone wanted. A source told Deadline’s Dominic Patten and Ted Johnson that even if Malone didn’t order Stelter’s ouster, “it sure represents his thinking”.

https://www.theguardian.com/comment...itically-motivated-that-should-concern-us-all

 

[BidenPresident]

"Zaslav has been prodding Licht to reposition CNN to the center, and be a network preferred by “everybody … Republicans, Democrats”.

But CNN is never going to be the network preferred by Republicans. Fox News has that sewn up.

As Republicans move further rightward into the netherworld of authoritarianism, there’s even less possibility that CNN’s news coverage will be able to satisfy them, nor should CNN even try. If we’ve learned anything from Trump and his lapdogs at Fox News, it’s that facts, data and logic are no longer relevant to the Republican base.

 

[Yakuda]

Malone has said he wants CNN to be more like Fox News because, in his view, Fox News has “actual journalism”. Malone also wants the “news” portion of CNN to be “more centrist”.

It’s unlikely that Malone instructed Zaslav to tell Licht to fire Stelter. Power isn’t exercised that directly or clumsily in large corporate media bureaucracies.

It’s more likely that Licht knew what Zaslav wanted, and Zaslav knew what Malone wanted. A source told Deadline’s Dominic Patten and Ted Johnson that even if Malone didn’t order Stelter’s ouster, “it sure represents his thinking”.

https://www.theguardian.com/comment...itically-motivated-that-should-concern-us-all

L M F A O. Only one thing matters ...ratings. Seems the Contrived News Network is getting hip to that fact.

BTW I used to watch CNN in it's early days but I stopped when they started preaching. That's also why I don't watch Fox.

 

[Lionfish]

 

[Dutch Uncle]

Malone has said he wants CNN to be more like Fox News because, in his view, Fox News has “actual journalism”. Malone also wants the “news” portion of CNN to be “more centrist”.

It’s unlikely that Malone instructed Zaslav to tell Licht to fire Stelter. Power isn’t exercised that directly or clumsily in large corporate media bureaucracies.

It’s more likely that Licht knew what Zaslav wanted, and Zaslav knew what Malone wanted. A source told Deadline’s Dominic Patten and Ted Johnson that even if Malone didn’t order Stelter’s ouster, “it sure represents his thinking”.

https://www.theguardian.com/comment...itically-motivated-that-should-concern-us-all

A slightly misleading quote by The Guardian. Close, but misleading: https://www.mediaite.com/uncategori...wants-cnn-to-evolve-back-to-actual-journalism
CNBC Anchor David Faber asked Malone if there is any place for news in a streaming network, admitting that he didn’t know if CNN would be a “value add or not” to the potentially merged media behemoth.

Malone replied in a self-effacing way, admitting that he could be “partially blamed for the creation of a lot of news networks,” including CNBC. It’s not clear why he feels like there needs to be any blame. He then answered a question clearly about his vision for how CNN will work in a merged company, by first lauding top-rated competitor, Fox News.

“Fox News, in my opinion, has followed an interesting trajectory of trying to have news news, I mean some actual journalism, embedded in a program schedule of all opinions,” Malone replied. “And I think they’ve been relatively successful with a service like Bret Baier, and Brit Hume before him, that try to distinguish news from opinion.”

“I would like to see CNN evolve back to the kind of journalism that it started with, and actually have journalists, which would be unique and refreshing,” he continued, which can only be viewed as a bad omen for the journalists currently under CNN’s employ.

“I do believe good journalism could have a role in this future portfolio that Discovery-TimeWarner’s going to represent,” he added after but is not included in the clip excerpted above.

Malone has a good point. As Fox News moved far right, CNN, to survive, has moved further left. The move was quite noticeable in the Age of Pedo Don.

FWIW, I watch (record) two shows on Fox: Baier's and Sunday Morning. Although a lot of bias/opinion creeps into both shows, it's not the hosts who are leading it. I mostly watch daytime CNN shows which often mirror the model Malone is referencing.

The whole Stelter thing is interesting but time will tell how it all settles out.