AMAC Exclusive – By Louis J. Senn
Over the past several weeks, we have all watched America’s oldest cable newsroom become the laughingstock of the media world. CNN has long bragged about their self-bestowed distinction as the “most trusted name in news,” assuring viewers that their “commitment to objective, credible, in-depth reporting gets stronger every year.” And yet, a number of top network staff and former executives are now embroiled in embarrassing personal scandals.
Of course, most reasonable Americans knew long before CNN President Jeff Zucker’s unceremonious ousting, before revelations about Chris Cuomo’s scheming with his disgraced brother, before Jeffrey Toobin’s unfortunate Zoom incident, and before the collapse in ratings at the network that there was something rotten at CNN. Recent Rasmussen polling showed that almost 60% of people disagree with CNN’s “slogan.” But even that number is not altogether shocking to those of us who have watched the legacy media companies, CNN chief among them,become overt partisan mouthpieces for the radical left in recent years, a trend that accelerated during the Trump administration.
As usual, however, CNN’s allies in the rest of the mainstream media have glossed over or mostly ignored the turmoil rocking the network. Here are the questions they should be asking about what unfolded at CNN in recent weeks.
Why was Jeff Zucker really pushed out?
The official CNN narrative is that Jeff Zucker, who until recently was CNN Worldwide President, was pushed out after it was revealed that he had an ongoing relationship with Allison Gollust, a former executive producer under Zucker at NBC, who he appears to have helped promote through the media ranks to become CNN’s chief marketing officer.
But does that narrative really square? Did CNN really fire their president over a consensual relationship with a colleague that he failed to report to HR? Rumors had apparently been circulating for years that the two were engaged in a relationship – did no one think it odd that Gollust and Zucker, who were both married, rented apartments right on top of one another that many at CNN referred to as a “cozy” relationship? Why did the higher-ups at CNN suddenly take an interest when they had not before?
Instead, might those aforementioned dismal ratings have more to do with why Zucker was shown the door?
Just how involved was Chris Cuomo in his brother’s scandal?
How credible is a network if one of its top on-air personalities is compromised? In the early months of the pandemic, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo became a frequent guest on the primetime CNN show hosted by his brother, Chris Cuomo. Chris presented himself as an affable personality who complemented his more serious older brother, who was supposedly busy saving New York from COVID and of course the dreaded Donald Trump.
Then, in late November, it was from text exchanges that Chris had worked closely with Andrew amid the fallout from an investigation into sexual harassment claims against the New York Governor – an effort that included Chris reaching out to journalists and trying to pass along information to his brother before it was released publicly.
But just how much did top executives at CNN – including Zucker – know about Chris Cuomo’s actions before his firing in December? Fellow CNN anchor Jake Tapper expressed his concern about the Cuomo brothers’ unethical collaboration as early as May of last year. Why did Zucker first suspend Cuomo and then fire him days later? What has the network discovered in their internal investigation that hasn’t been made public? Answers to questions like these, although likely embarrassing for CNN, might be the only way for the network to begin restoring credibility with its viewers.
Does CNN have any hiring standards?
By re-hiring the disgraced Jeffrey Toobin and putting him back on the air, CNN may have been unintentionally sending a message about their exceptionally low standards for the network’s talent. Even as Chris Cuomo himself is now under sexual assault investigations, CNN also had to fire Cuomo’s producer in December of 2021 after he was arrested due to soliciting underage girls. Around the same time, a producer for Jake Tapper resigned in disgrace after he too was revealed to be attempting to solicit minors. It’s fair to question how seriously CNN is vetting those they are hiring – and if the departure of three of the network’s most powerful figures will change that.
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CNN will no doubt continue to try to write its own narrative about why things are going so poorly for the network. But the reality is that most people already know why. A network that has discarded even the pretext of honest journalism in favor of a strict partisan agenda should not expect to be taken seriously by any but the most impassioned far-left ideologues. CNN engaged in four years of lies and deceit during the Trump administration – is it really so surprising it sinternal affairs are equally sordid? The channel’s new owners will have a lot of work to do if they hope to rebuild the value of their investment. In the words of Thomas Paine: “Character is much easier kept than recovered.”
Louis J. Senn is a lawyer in Louisville, Kentucky who previously worked for the Trump Administration.