When Chris Licht took over as CNN CEO, there was much talk that he and David Zaslav, CEO of CNN's parent corp Warner Bros Discovery, wanted to bring the network back toward the center, and away from its hard-left tilt under former CNN CEO Jeff Zucker.
There were some promising early signs in that direction, as CNN showed the door to uber-liberals Brian Stelter and John Harwood.
And reliable lefty Don Lemon was demoted from his prime-time gig to a new morning show.
But, as it turned out, when Lemon moved to the morning, it might have been a different time of day, but it was the same hard-left bias.
In response to Lemon's repeated morning liberal slant, we asked:
"Is this what Chris Licht had in mind when he announced his plan to make CNN less partisan and more straight-news-oriented?"
Now we have the answer. All that stuff about Licht wanting to pull CNN back toward the center? Never mind!
As The Hill headline reveals:
"New CNN boss Licht: Idea I want network to be centrist is ‘bulls—‘"
AndThe Hill quotes Licht:
“One of the biggest misconceptions about my vision is that I want to be vanilla, that I want to be centrist. That is bulls--t.You have to be compelling. You have to have edge. In many cases you take a side. Sometimes you just point out uncomfortable questions. But either way you don’t see it through a lens of left or right.”
As anyone watching can see, CNN's "edge" will surely continue to tilt left.
So, Don Lemon, not to worry! Your boss has made clear that you and your fellow hosts and "reporters" remain free to continue spewing your leftist take on the news!
In an earlier interview with Kara Swisher for New York magazine, Licht also boasted that they'll still be opinionated. "And if you look at our election night coverage, we literally labeled people 'election deniers' as the adjective, just as you would call them an incumbent."
Swisher also asked if Licht considers Fox News to be a news outlet. "I was not born yesterday. Come on," Licht answered.
He also boasted that he doesn't want his journalists to care about ratings:
“I don’t, do not, want someone who’s producing an hour of television on CNN saying, ‘You know what? I could lead with this or I could lead with that. I’m going to lead with that because it’ll get a better number.’ I want people leading and stacking their shows in a way based on journalism and what’s important,” Licht said during a separate interview with the journalist Kara Swisher last week. “Let me worry about the ratings. Chase stories, not ratings.”
That's encouraging talk, since CNN continues to stink in the ratings. Don Lemon's morning show is getting beat in the ratings by a Hannity rerun at 2 am.
