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What is “a new CNN?"

STEVE SCHMIDT
MAY 7, 2023


Donald Trump at the CNN presidential debate in Las Vegas on December 15, 2015 (Photo credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
I love the news, and have always been interested in what is happening in the world around me. CNN literally brought the entire world into my New Jersey childhood home. The network was founded by Ted Turner, an iconic American. Before billionaires were ubiquitous, common and famous for being rich, obnoxious and utterly predictable, there was Ted Turner. He was cool, in addition to being a business genius, global visionary and historic conservationist. CNN was his creation and it was a spectacular achievement. In fact, it’s almost impossible to imagine a world without CNN. The organization also has a peerless roster of journalists, who can be deeply trusted to accurately report reality without fear or favor. Whether it is Wolf Blitzer, Dana Bash, Clarissa Ward, Jim Acosta or dozens of other correspondents, CNN’s issues have not been driven by its journalists, but by its prima donnas and executives.

Change has come to CNN. During an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” David Zaslav responded to progressive criticism of CNN airing this coming week’s New Hampshire town hall either featuring or starring Donald Trump by declaring, “This is a new CNN.”

The distinction between featuring Trump in a town hall, and one starring him is not semantic. It is elemental. Should the town hall simply feature Trump then it is possible the new CNN will trend towards journalism. That would be good. If it stars Donald Trump, it would harken the renewal of a dismal partnership, and place CNN in a business arrangement with Trump along his shady axis of partnerships, including Saudi Arabia, LIV Golf, NewsMax, Fox News and Tucker Carlson. This distinction matters in a world in which Fox News has been exposed as the most corrupt news organization in American history. Beyond the moment to moment malfeasance, dishonesty, racism, xenophobia and gaslighting, Bret Baier, Rupert Murdoch’s hard news bard, has been unmasked. He is a conman, not a news man. He lies for profit. He misleads to please the fragile sensibilities of his radical audience. This is the model that CNN has been encouraged to pursue by one of America’s richest and most powerful men.

A few years back, John Malone, the largest shareholder in Warner Bros. Discovery, made critical comments about CNN, and cited Fox News as a model the network might wish to follow. In a 2021 “Squawk Box” interview, Malone said:

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. 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.

What exactly is “a new CNN,” and what will it become? It will certainly be a departure from the reality show ethic that saw Corey Lewandowski, Kayleigh McEnany and Jeffrey Lord join the network. That would be in the public interest and an unalloyed societal good. Perhaps it will become a news network again. There is certainly a great deal of open space to pursue and amplify ethical journalism.

This is among the most corrupt eras of American history. Muckraking is the antidote to the corrupt access model. Partnering with the powerful to communicate to the masses isn’t journalism. It is propaganda. Accountability against the public interest is what this moment requires. Can CNN deliver?

What is the great issue of our time? What should the news be about? Perhaps the question should be tightened. What should the news about what is happening in the United States be concerned about? What is the most important story of this era? What is the essential choice in the looming election?

https://steveschmidt.substack.com/p/is-this-a-new-cnn?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=836444&post_id=119729461&isFreemail=true&utm_medium=email