On Monday morning, CNN and chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta announced that, having spewed four years of hatred against President Trump and his supporters and vanquished Trump from office, he’ll depart the White House beat. Instead, he’ll become chief domestic correspondent and become a weekend anchor for the Jeffrey Zucker-led circus.
We report, you decide on whether that’s a promotion or an admission of mission accomplished.
CNN also made a slew of other personnel moves, including the promotion of conservative journalist-turned-Zuckerbot Kaitlan Collins to Acosta’s title, moving Phil Mattingly and Biden suck-up Arlette Saenz to the White House beat, Abby Phillip to host Sunday’s Inside Politics, and “adult” Jake Tapper’s The Lead permanently expanding to two hours (after having been so in the election build-up).
So we’re going from Acosta’s antagonism and carnival barking to someone in Saenz who never sought to ruffle feathers with Team Biden. Can’t wait to see if Saenz comes through with the Biden version of her colleague Jeff Zeleny’s 2009 “enchanted” question to Obama.
In addition to the press release, Acosta publicized his move in a tweet:
On to the next adventure! After eight years at WH, I’m moving into a new role as anchor on weekends and chief domestic correspondent for @CNN, a new challenge I’m very excited about. Will miss my WH colleagues. But I know they’ll be great covering the Biden admin. See you soon!
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) January 11, 2021
Along with Collins, Mattingly, and Saenz, Zuckerville said Acosta mini-me Jeremy Diamond, deeply partisan flunky John Harwood, Bernie-hating MJ Lee, and Melania-obsessed Kate Bennett will continue on the beat, shifting gears from slinging mud to polishing Biden’s apple and defending the Biden family from any and all critiques.
CNN PR also publicized that there would be a series of non-White House announcements, including Bash becoming a co-anchor of State of the Union (but not her own show) (click “expand”):
Beginning in April, Jake Tapper’s program The Lead with Jake Tapper will expand to 4-6 p.m. ET nightly. In addition, he will continue in his role on Sunday mornings, now co-anchoring State of the Union with Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. He will also serve as the network’s lead anchor for all major Washington events.
Wolf Blitzer will continue to anchor the network’s signature evening newscast, The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, now airing from 6-7 p.m. ET nightly. The program will be seen around the world, simulcast on the CNN US and CNN International networks. He will also have a principal anchor role for all major breaking news and continue to host CNN special reports.
Dana Bash has been named co-anchor of the network’s Sunday morning newsmaker show, now called State of the Union with Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. Tapper and Bash will each anchor two Sundays a month, beginning January 24th.
(....)
Pamela Brown will become the anchor of CNN Newsroom on Saturdays and Sundays from 6-9 p.m. ET, beginning January 23rd. Brown will also serve as a senior Washington correspondent for CNN.
While names and faces will change, one truth will remain that guides CNN programming, which that there’s no such thing as uniqueness at CNN. If you work for Jeff Zucker, you’re expected to read off the exact same sheet music as everyone else, rarely (if ever) deviating from one of condescension, smugness, and performing the news instead of delivering it.
