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CNN’s Stelter Has ‘Weeks’ Left At CNN, Employees Fume Over New Trump Donor Boss: Report

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


CNN’s “Reliable Sources” host Brian Stelter’s career at the far-left network could be over in “weeks.”

News Cycle Media President Jon Nicosia took to Twitter and reported that sources told him that Stelter has “weeks” left at the network and that other CNN employees are complaining about changes made by new management.

Nicosia tweeted: “SOURCE: “Stelter is ‘down to weeks if not days’ left at CNN. They go on ‘He is everything that reminds the new owners of the Zucker era they desperately want to get past.”

“They continue: ‘Management is confident Stelter is the one sharing the internal pushback to fellow media reporters while simultaneously stirring discontent within the ranks.’”

Other CNN employees were complaining about changes made by Chris Licht and new boss billionaire Trump donor John Malone.

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“We didn’t have this problem until John Malone was sitting on the board of this company,” one CNN employee said.

“It’s worrisome that we’re being told how to talk about one of the worst things that ever happened to American democracy,” another CNN employee added.

Mediaite reported:

New CNN president Chris Licht discouraged staff from using “the big lie” to refer to former President Donald Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election, Mediaite has learned. On a Tuesday conference call with management and show executive producers, Licht was asked for his thoughts on “the big lie,” and said he preferred that staff avoid the term.

He made clear this was a preference, not a mandate, but staffers have taken it as a clear directive from the new boss. He encouraged producers to instead use the terms “Trump election lie” or “election lies” in banners and graphics. According to a source, Licht argued that using “the big lie” makes the mistake of adopting branding used by the Democratic Party, thereby weakening the objectivity of the network.

Earlier this week, it was reported that Stelter’s “Reliable Sources” show had its lowest-rated episode since September 2019 on Sunday when only 580,000 viewers tuned into the struggling program.

“Reliable Sources also struggled in the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults age 25-54, averaging only 73,000 viewers from the critical category. Stelter’s program shed 13% of the total audience who tuned into the show that precedes it, Fareed Zakaria GPS, and lost 25% of Zakaria’s viewers among the demo. It was Stelter’s smallest audience since Sept. 15, 2019,” A Fox News report stated.

Partisan CNN hosts Stelter and Jim Acosta, along with other biased hosts, could be gone as the network undergoes changes.

The new boss at CNN, Chris Licht, “is evaluating whether personalities and programming that grew polarizing during the Trump era can adapt to the network’s new priority to be less partisan,” Axios reported.

Three sources close to the situation said that if the talent can not adjust and be more straight news and less partisan they could be gone.

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It is reported that he wants to give the current talent a chance to prove that they can do straight news and not tarnish CNN’s reputation, which may be tarnished right now.

“We are truth-tellers, focused on informing, not alarming our viewers,” Licht said to employees in a memo. “If talent cannot adjust to a less partisan tone and strategy, they could be ousted, three sources familiar with the matter told Axios.

But that is not the only change. Licht also agrees with others that CNN uses the “Breaking News’ banner far too often.

“Something I have heard from people both inside and outside the organization is complaints we overuse the ‘Breaking News’ banner. I agree,” the new boss said.

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“It has become such a fixture on every channel and network that its impact has become lost on the audience. Starting today, CNN has added a ‘Breaking News’ guideline to our stylebook. A special thank you to Sam Feist, who led the team that put the guideline together. It certainly will need tweaks, so we are open to feedback, but this is a great starting point to try to make ‘Breaking News’ mean something BIG is happening,” he said.

Another report from TVNewser reveals that Warner Bros. Discovery has begun laying off staffers less than a month after pulling the plug on CNN’s failed streaming service.

Licht said in an internal memo that “all CNN+ employees will continue to be paid and receive benefits for the next 90 days to explore opportunities at CNN, CNN Digital, and elsewhere in the Warner Bros. Discovery family.”

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