CNN is Dead to Me
CNN of Yore
I’m old, so I remember when CNN was launched in 1980. It was pre-streaming, and before, there were news networks for every political flavor. It was before “alternate facts” and wildly different news coverage, depending on whether you were watching one channel or another.
It was also before Trump ran for President, and many of us, including many news networks and outlets, laughed — until he got elected. Then, many purveyors of news were openly chagrined that they hadn’t covered Trump more seriously, pointing out more urgently all of his lies and the misdeeds he did right out in the open.
In My Naivete
In recent years, even though Fox News and MSNBC were very clearly right or left-leaning, respectively, I had thought that CNN was still covering the news in an apolitical way. Apparently, they had been leaning to the left as well. I did not watch them very often. Sometimes, late at night, I would turn them on for background noise and a different take on the news from MSNBC, which is my go-to.
Because I am also a Stephen Colbert fan, I was aware when his former executive producer, Chris Licht, left Colbert’s show to go to CNN in 2022. I thought it was an interesting change of roles for Licht, and I didn’t give it much more thought. I also thought (in my naivete) that someone who had worked so closely with Colbert couldn’t be completely without any sense of duty to the viewing public — without any intention of obligation to at least not further harm American society by staging another Trump rally.
Even Then
I bought the explanation of the May 10th town hall on CNN that Trump was the Republican party leader and a declared candidate and that they had a legitimate reason broadcast the town hall. I consciously didn’t watch it, but I was appalled, and what I saw in the clips was just the Trump show of 2015 — abetted by CNN and by their setup, guaranteed by CNN.
I can’t believe CNN didn’t anticipate that Trump controlling the whole show wasn’t how it would go. It seemed like CNN loaded the audience with Trump fans — or maybe they were just the only people interested in being there to bathe in his lies.
He defamed E. Jean Carroll AGAIN. Perhaps. since he doesn’t plan on ever paying her the court-ordered damages, he doesn’t care if she sues him again.
If you are a legitimate journalist, you should quit CNN
Except for the puff pieces he does, I have had the impression that Anderson Cooper, for example, is a journalist who cares about reporting the news as accurately as possible.
Cooper’s network has just thrown itself down the MAGA well of broadcasting. I think Cooper should quit in protest. I am sincere about that; I would encourage any legitimate journalist at CNN to leave. If they are “on-screen talent,” they can afford to quit — they can get another job, write a book, or whatever.
Boycott
I am going to boycott CNN for the foreseeable future. They must go a long way to regain my trust and respect. It is another fallout of the Trump era that people and organizations alike don’t seem able to feel shame or embarrassment anymore. CNN appears to be squarely in this desert now.
Today, I have heard the theory that Licht did this because he wants to capture Fox News’ disenchanted viewers. Translation: for the ratings and the money. Suppose people, companies, and politicians (not the same as “people”) keep abetting Trump for financial gain. In that case, we may be more doomed by that degradation of American society than we are by climate change.
Join me in this boycott — it couldn’t be easier.