CNN is at a crossroads these days.
Former boss Chris Licht, brought in to lift a ship with sinking ratings, was recently fired for failing to do the one thing that was critical for him to do: reset and revitalize the network. But through a series of missteps and arrogant leadership, he left the network in much worse condition than he found it.
Licht’s attempt to drag CNN into becoming a more centrist network not only turned off its most dedicated viewers, but it offended a staff of good journalists who already were doing admirable work.
Reports are that most of the staff at CNN is relieved that Licht is gone and now the network can get back to doing what it does best: report the news. Much of that, however, depends on what is going on in the news. And CNN always thrives when there is major breaking news: weather disasters, wars and former presidents being indicted.
So that’s why it was no surprise just how impactful the network was over the weekend with its coverage of the events in Russia, where there appeared to be an insurrection.
Veteran media columnist Margaret Sullivan tweeted Saturday, “This is what @cnn is good at.”
It brought in its elite talent, including Christiane Amanpour, to anchor special coverage over the weekend. Its range of analysts and expert commentators was far and wide and insightful. CNN’s anchors and the direction of the coverage kept it simple by focusing on two questions: What’s happening and what does it mean?
It was as simple as that. Information, insight. Repeat.
CNN is at its best when there is breaking international news. And it’s at moments like these you realize just how good it is and how important it is.
To be fair, the Russian story wasn’t a sudden shift for CNN. But there has been a noticeable change since Licht left, which happened to coincide with some major news stories.
As Puck’s Dylan Byers tweeted, “If it feels like CNN is trending back toward pre-Licht era, in some ways it is… wall-to-wall coverage of Ukraine, Trump indictment, submersible… graphics reversal (see below)… interim leadership troika of old Zucker deputies who may lead through 2024 election… etc.”
Oh, one more CNN item
That “see below” comment from Byers? Well, Byers also tweeted this little nugget over the weekend: “Scoop @PuckNews: CNN plans to change its on-air graphics back to old style that existed before ex-CEO Chris Licht changed them. Licht’s update, led by ex-comms chief Kris Coratti, did not go over well with CNN execs/journalists. Changes will start Monday, completed in 2-3 weeks.”
Other coverage from Russia
CNN was hardly alone in outstanding coverage regarding Russia. If you’re a news consumer, you likely wore out the refresh key on your computer looking for updates from The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Associated Press. Here are some of the smart stories I saw over the weekend:
- The New York Times’ Anton Troianovski with “Revolt Raises Searing Question: Could Putin Lose Power?”
- Also from the Times, Valerie Hopkins with “One Big Winner of Kremlin-Wagner Clash? The Dictator Next Door.”
- The Washington Post’s Dalton Bennett with “Scenes from Wagner’s mutiny: Coffee in camo, street sweeping between tanks.”
- And I love stories like this from The Washington Post staff: “What just happened in Russia? The Wagner crisis, explained.”
- CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh with “Bizarre and chaotic 36 hours in Russia feels like the beginning of the end for Putin.”
- The Wall Street Journal’s Benoit Faucon, Joe Parkinson and Thomas Grove with “Why Wagner Chief Prigozhin Turned Against Putin.”
The Sunday shows
The Sunday morning news shows also had heavy coverage of Russia, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken appearing pretty much everywhere. He told Margaret Brennan on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that this story is far from over.
“This is an unfolding story, and I think we’re in the midst of a moving picture,” Blinken said. “We haven’t seen the last act. We’re watching it very closely.”
Blinken also told Brennan that what happened “raises profound questions, it shows real cracks.” He gave similar comments to other Sunday shows.
I’m a Sunday morning news show junkie, so maybe I’m biased. But I feel as if this is when the shows are best: when important politicians are on to discuss real-time events in a matter-of-fact manner. It’s so much more preferable to what often populates these shows: politicians coming on to give their political spins and attack their opponents.
The uselessness of Twitter
(AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
During the weekend, as events out of Russia dominated the news cycle, I occasionally checked in on Twitter. But I realized what was once a go-to source during major breaking news stories has become less effective and impactful. Most of that has to do with not knowing who to trust on the social media site since it overhauled and undermined its verified blue check mark policy.
I then discovered that I was not alone in seeing the flaws of Twitter over the weekend.
CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy tweeted on Saturday, “One notable thing about this rapidly developing international story: Since Elon Musk took a sledgehammer to Twitter’s verification system, the platform is far less useful during breaking news events, and so people are depending on traditional newsrooms for verifiable information.”
Media writer Evan DeSimone tweeted, “As many people have already pointed out, it’s amazing how useless Twitter now is during a major news event. A year ago this would have been my first stop.”
University of Texas at Austin journalism professor John Schwartz tweeted, “Yes, Musk has rendered Twitter useless for its greatest purpose: helping to quickly sift for the truth in fast-moving news storms. On the other hand The New York Times — you know, a professional news organization — is kicking ass.”
These are just a few of the comments that pointed out what is absolutely true: When it comes to major breaking news, Twitter is no longer the go-to source it used to be.
Another doozy from Bartiromo
Of course, leave it to Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo to ridiculously say the Biden White House and the so-called “mainstream media” drummed up coverage in Russia to take attention away from the Hunter Biden news.
This is an actual quote from Bartiromo from Sunday’s “Fox & Friends” (and here’s video proof that these words actually came out of her mouth):
“The White House wanted to give the media something else to cover, and this is the MO. This is exactly the way they do things. In fact, on Friday I said, ‘Wow, what a blockbuster WhatsApp message. I’m sure there will be an enormous story over the weekend that the White House is going to be pushing to take this story off the front page.’ And sure enough, we’ve got the State Department drumming up all the drama that took place over the weekend in Russia. So I don’t know if it’s going to break through. The mainstream media has an excuse again not to cover it. … They’re covering everything about Russia and the Wagner Group as if it really matters to the U.S. right now.”
Lemon speaks
Don Lemon, shown here in April. (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
Don Lemon gave his first TV interview since his firing from CNN in April. It was with ABC24 — the ABC affiliate in Memphis, where he was making a speech at the local chapter of the NAACP.
Lemon did not talk about his firing from CNN, but he seemingly called out CNN for putting people on air such as Donald Trump and Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who Lemon clashed with on air during a CNN interview.
Lemon said, “I don’t believe in platforming liars, and bigots, and insurrectionists, and election deniers, and putting them on the same footing as people who are telling the truth, people who are fighting for what’s right, people who are abiding by the Constitution. I think that would be a dereliction of journalistic duty doing those sorts of things. That is what has gotten me to this point, and that is what is going to carry me forward.”
As far as what’s next, Lemon said, “I’m not gonna force anything. I’m not gonna let other people’s timeline influence me. I know people say, ‘I miss you on television. What is your next move?’ I’m figuring that out. I don’t have to be in a rush. I think sometimes people rush to make decisions and they end up making the wrong decisions.”
No comments
The Denver Post announced last week that it is ending the comments section on its website. Readers will no longer be able to comment directly on stories posted on DenverPost.com.
In an explanation to readers, Post editor Lee Ann Colacioppo wrote that the news outlet had long valued the input from readers, “But, unfortunately,” she continued, “we have also witnessed our commenting section becoming an uncivil place that drives readers away and opens those trying to engage in thoughtful conversation to hateful, personal attacks. None of it managed to make our commenting section the productive space for engagement we envisioned.”
Colacioppo points out that readers can still contact the news outlet by writing an email to anyone on the staff through a “contact us” link. In addition, readers can comment through social media and letters to the editor.
The new policy goes into effect July 1. Naturally, the comments under Colacioppo’s story were critical of the Post’s decision, with many saying they’ll cancel their subscriptions.
Despite best efforts to keep ugly posts from sifting through, news outlets struggle to maintain civility in their comment sections. But this isn’t news outlets’ fault. It’s the fault of those commenters who have turned the feature into a place that does more harm than good.
Instead of furthering debate and sparking intelligent conversation, comments far too often devolve into hate, insults and, in many cases, commentary that isn’t bound by truth or the kind of integrity that is being spotlighted by a reputable journalistic outlet.
In other words, if commentators want to blame someone for the Post’s decision, they can blame themselves.
Media tidbits
- ProPublica’s Jesse Eisinger and Stephen Engelberg with “Behind the Scenes of Justice Alito’s Unprecedented Wall Street Journal Pre-buttal.”
- Speaking of the Supreme Court, a must-read from Politico’s Josh Gerstein: “Fighting for trust: The painful journey of the Supreme Court after Dobbs.”
- The New York Post’s Dylan Svoboda with “‘SportsCenter’ anchor Neil Everett delivers witty sign-off for final show after 23-year run.”
- Taylor Swift brought her huge “Eras Tour” to Minneapolis last week and to commemorate it, sports anchor Chris Long of KSTP-TV in the Twin Cities managed to impressively and effectively work 47 Swift song titles into his sports update.
- Appearing on Howie Kurtz’s “MediaBuzz” show on Fox News, Chris Christie had a good response about Donald Trump mocking his weight, including, “He should look in a mirror every once in a while.”
Hot type
- For The Atlantic, Nina Jankowicz with “I Shouldn’t Have to Accept Being in Deepfake Porn.”
- What a delightful short profile from longtime Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly for The Washington Post: “He has flown 23 million miles. Here are his travel secrets.”
- A much more serious topic, also from The Washington Post. Sports columnist Candace Buckner with “Sportswashing isn’t what we say now. It’s what we won’t be saying later.”
More resources for journalists
- Bring Poynter to Your Newsroom, Classroom or Workplace.
- Sign up for Beat Academy (Now-Oct. 19) (Webinar series) — You’ll get tips, sources, inspiration and ideas to cover emerging newsroom beats. Enroll now.
- Executive Leadership Summit (Oct.) (Seminar) — Apply by Aug. 14.
- Power of Diverse Voices: Writing Workshop for Journalists of Color (Nov. 15-18) (Seminar) — Apply by Sept. 15.
Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at tjones@poynter.org.
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