Elon Musk On CNN’s Shakeup Plan To Add More Conservative Voices And Tone Down Hype: “This sounds promising
CNN’s new boss, Chris Licht, is moving forward with his shakeup plan for the flailing network. Licht and his boss, billionaire Trump donor John Malone, were not happy with the tabloid-ish way the network covered the Trump years and want to bring CNN back to reporting straight news.
According to the New York Times, “A month into his tenure as the new leader of CNN, Chris Licht is starting to leave his mark on the 24-hour news network he inherited in May from its prominent former president, Jeff Zucker. So far, the Licht Doctrine is a change from the Zucker days: less hype, more nuance and a redoubled effort to reach viewers of all stripes.
“CNN’s ubiquitous ‘Breaking News’ banner is gone, now reserved for instances of truly urgent events. Snarky onscreen captions are discouraged. Political shows are trying to book more conservative voices, and producers have been urged to ignore Twitter backlash from the far right and the far left.”
Elon Musk, a frequent critic of CNN and other media outlets for pushing inaccurate reporting and giving in to sensationalism to try to sell advertising agrees with the shakeup. Musk said:
This sounds promising
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2022
“This sounds promising.”
According to TVNewser, CNN is starting to make layoffs, “A little more than a month after Warner Bros. Discovery announced it was pulling the plug on CNN+, CNN began laying off affected staffers today, multiple sources told TVNewser.
“It is unclear how many people are affected in total, but approximately 23 staffers in CNN’s Hudson Yards offices were told today that their positions were being eliminated, according to a source.
“Another source confirmed that layoffs had occurred, but noted that the company is still trying to place those impacted CNN+ staffers in other positions around CNN and Warner Bros. Discovery.”
Majority shareholder at Discovery and billionaire Trump donor John Malone said recently: “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.
“I do believe good journalism could have a role in this future portfolio that Discovery-TimeWarner’s going to represent.”
Jon Nicosia, President of News Cycle Media, said earlier:
“Source: John Malone, Discovery’s board member will “play a huge role in the new organization’s plans to return CNN to its news channel roots and dismantle the partisan organization Zucker shifted it into.
“They continue: “This will mean a large realignment of staff”
“It was so loud,” said Peter Hamby, a former CNN correspondent and a columnist at Puck. “They found a new outrage every single day. It made it difficult for audiences to separate what was really an emergency and what was a ratings ploy.”
John Malone one of Discovery Channel’s major share holders purchasing CNN admitting CNN does not have real news or real journalists! pic.twitter.com/pNye4zZvLl
— Randy Quaid (@RandyRRQuaid) December 7, 2021