When the networks promote the Democrats inside a liberal bubble, the liberals call that "tried and true news." If it departs from that bubble in the slightest, it's turning into "propaganda."
Appearing on the podcast Next Question with Katie Couric on May 27, former CNN White House screamer Jim Acosta worried that the Ellisons taking over CBS and CNN has "the makings of a propaganda giant." Both journalists demonstrated an incredible lack of self-awareness.
ACOSTA: And so it sounds as though to me that the wheels have come off over at CBS and Bari Weiss only has herself to blame. And, you know, I think some of – a couple of things. One is, I think this is an ideological project on the part of the Ellisons, who have bought CBS Paramount, and Bari Weiss, and that they're going to try to translate this ideological experiment over to CNN. And I'm very worried about what's taking place right now because now it looks like it's a fait accompli that that Paramount is going to be able to gobble up Warner Brothers Discovery, the parent company of CNN, and that you're going to have what is essentially the makings of a propaganda giant in this country.
LOL: Jim Acosta told Katie Couric on her podcast that the Ellisons taking over CBS & CNN has "the makings of a propaganda giant." As if these two didn't make "propaganda" for the Clintons or the Obamas! Oh no, back then Acosta said they worked for "tried and true news divisions,"… pic.twitter.com/6xNFCuFQeK
— Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) May 31, 2026
That's funny, because "propaganda" might describe Acosta asking President Obama about his "best week ever" in 2015, or gushing on Obama's second Inauguration Day that "I should pinch myself" at his vantage point in history.
It's easy to remember Couric giggling with Hillary Clinton on 60 Minutes. But that was "tried and true news" according to these two.
ACOSTA: And Katie, what concerns me so much about this is that you and I have been in this business long enough to know we haven't had that before in this country. And folks might say, oh, it's a bit hyperbolic to say, oh, it's going to be propaganda and so on.
COURIC: Well, we have Fox News, wouldn't you call that?
ACOSTA: I would say we have, we have that in this, but I think Fox is a different animal in that we kind of already are living with it and have been living with it for some time. Whereas you are taking two news organizations, CBS and CNN that had been basically operating as, you know, regular tried and true news divisions. And in fact, trying to turn them into propaganda arms of the Trump administration. And I've been saying that on my show, we already have one Fox, we don't need another one.
And the liberals have possessed ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, NPR, CNN, and MSNBC* for decades. That's a "propaganda giant," but it's exactly the way they like it. Then came the complaining about the networks who settled lawsuits with Trump rather than divulge their internal emails (which we would have loved to see):
COURIC: Yeah. And I, I've been pretty outspoken about this whole sort of tit for tat, and, you know, pay-to-play situation that happened almost at ABC, but they turned it around and reinstated Jimmy Kimmel. But this thing with $16 million for a specious lawsuit that had no merit about the editing of a Kamala Harris interview. That's how it started. And then Trump was suing CBS. And then they gave him $16 million for his library [makes sarcastic quote fingers] or whatever it was for, basically to pave the way, to get this merger approved. You know, I still have friends at CBS. They're very upset about what is happening there. And I'm sure you also talk to people at CNN. And, you know, Trump has even pointed out anchors. He doesn't like, I mean, case in point, you were one of them, Jim.
ACOSTA: Yeah. He said he got rid of me. Yeah. And, and, you know, here, I thought these were just programming decisions. You know, he put out a true social post not too long ago and taking credit for the ousting of various anchors and hosts. Stephen Colbert being one, myself, Terry Moran, some others.
Remember that Acosta wasn't exactly "ousted." He was offered a late-night show and turned it down. Maybe he didn't want to enter a propaganda contest with Colbert and Kimmel.
