NonilexJun 7, 2023

#CNN boss #ChrisLicht & …top allies have been fired after weeks of turmoil & drama….

#Licht’s brief tenure as the network’s boss was marked by plummeting ratings, extensive job cuts, programming shifts that didn’t pan out, & high-profile firings of on-air personalities (& Trump’s Town Hall). All of this, it appeared, was part of an effort to reshape CNN into a “centrist” news org & appeal to a supposedly broader audience.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/embattled-cnn-boss-chris-licht-gets-the-boot

Embattled CNN Boss Chris Licht Gets the Boot

After weeks of drama and turmoil, he is out after barely a year on the job.

The Daily Beast
Show threadNonilexJun 7, 2023

A New York jury on May 9 found Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing #EJeanCarroll, an advice columnist who sued him years after the #assault she alleged. The next day, #CNN held its much-criticized #TownHall w/#Trump. In its tee-up coverage, a chyron that included the term “SEXUAL ABUSE” appeared on the screen. A lieutenant of CNN chief executive #ChrisLicht notified the control room: Scrub those words.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/06/07/chris-licht-cnn-centrist-politics/

Chris Licht is out, and so is CNN’s centrist folly

Licht attempted to recalibrate CNN's political sensibilities, a disaster that played out in plain sight.

The Washington Post
Show threadNonilex

That morsel surfaced in a searing profile of #ChrisLicht that appeared last week in the Atlantic under the byline of Tim Alberta — a piece that aggregated a run of bad stories about #Licht & added a few new ones. On Wed morning, #CNN staffers learned that Licht was out….

There are many subplots to Licht’s abbreviated tour, but the #SexualAbuse chyron moment captures a critical one:

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2023/06/cnn-ratings-chris-licht-trump/674255/

Inside the Meltdown at CNN

CEO Chris Licht felt he was on a mission to restore the network’s reputation for serious journalism. How did it all go wrong?

The Atlantic
Jun 7, 2023 at 10:33pmWeb
Show threadNonilexJun 7, 2023
#ChrisLicht’s departure marks the failure of his mandate — delivered from his corporate overlords, including #WarnerBrosDiscovery CEO #DavidZaslav — to recalibrate the network’s political sensibility toward the center. To the extent that anyone ever understood what that meant for actual #CNN broadcasts, it’s now clear that it meant #sanitizing the screen in deference to the #Republican front-runner.

A disaster, in other words.