Back when Chris Licht first came on as the new CEO of CNN and said he was gonna change things up and do some housecleaning, we were kinda cautiously optimistic. Especially when he gave some of CNN’s worst, most obnoxious offenders their walking papers.
But ultimately, CNN can’t help but CNN, and after last night’s town hall event with Donald Trump, Licht is showing that the new boss isn’t all that different from the old boss:
Chris Licht begins CNN's 9am editorial call by praising @kaitlancollins for a "masterful performance last night." He says "I couldn't be more proud of her" and the whole team in NH. Then he says he's aware of the backlash… More to come
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) May 11, 2023
“Masterful performance.” We suppose he has to say stuff like that to keep up morale, especially when there’s no way CNN employees don’t know in their hearts that it was a disaster. So we’ll cut him a little slack there.
But not here:
"You do not have to like the former president's answers, but you can't say that we didn't get them," Licht tells staffers, many of whom are angry about the town hall. "Kaitlan pressed him again and again and made news. Made a LOT of news." And "that is our job."
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) May 11, 2023
Oh?
What? https://t.co/eUHUC3vfGt
— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) May 11, 2023
First of all:
You can, in fact, say you didn't get the answers to the questions he declined to answer. Who does he personally want to win the war in Europe? Will he accept election results? Did he share classified material w/ guests? We got non-answers, not unsatisfactory answers.
— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) May 11, 2023
That's just terrible spin.
— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) May 11, 2023
Of course it’s terrible spin.
It’s also terrible journalism, which, to be fair, is basically CNN’s brand.
Thought their job was to report the news, not to make the news
— Dominic Pino (@DominicJPino) May 11, 2023
It's a one-stop shop.
— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) May 11, 2023
Yeah, that’s the bit we’re hung up on, too. Since when is it a news organization’s job to make a lot of news? What really gets us is not that this is what CNN’s mission has been, because we already knew that. No, the crazy part is that Chris Licht just came right out and said it.
Lol – so the news’ job is to make news
— pjeanne (@p_jeanne97) May 11, 2023
They "made news"? Since when is a news outlet supposed to create news rather than report on it?
— Marla Tauscher 🇺🇦 (@MarlaTauscher) May 11, 2023
I thought “the job” of journalists was to report the news, not make it.
— Dawn (@Alba_Dawn) May 11, 2023
A reporters job is not to make news. It's to report on it. The fact that you and your peers are blind to this explains everything that is wrong with modern day journalists and journalism
— Joe McWopSki (@LakesFirearmsTr) May 11, 2023
Well, congratulations to CNN for making the news. Now more people than ever know how hard CNN sucks.
There was never a clearer statement that modern news organizations place profits above their responsibilities to inform the public than this
— Garfield’s Ghost (@Occamsreznor) May 11, 2023
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