OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
A CNN panel erupted after a former Obama staffer and a former Bush staffer clashed. The panel was discussing the impact of Latino voters in the coming midterm elections when things went haywire.
“According to some polling, (Blake) Masters is close to (Mark) Kelly,” former special assistant to George W. Bush, Scott Jennings said, referring to the Arizona Senate race. “I don’t know if he’s gonna win, but it’s a very close…”
“Do you want to bet money on that race?” former Obama White House deputy chief of staff Jim Messina interrupted.
“Do I want to bet money?” Jennings hit back.
“You wanna bet money on the governor’s race?” “You’re just holding the Republican line in everything you’ve said tonight,” Messina argued. “Let’s be in the middle.”
“Scott, come on,” the former Obama staffer said. “Enough with the talking points.”
“I feel like your debate with Karl Rove that you had before you came here — like, your ears are clogged,” Jennings hit back. “I’m telling you…”
“No,” Messina interrupted. “I’m just concerned that the RNC gave you the talking points and now you can’t shift.”
“I tell you what, man, do you have a single friend?” Jennings said. “You’re an absolute jerk.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t come on here and read talking points. You know me, and you know me, and you,” he said to the panel. “I don’t come on here and read talk– I don’t even know you, and you’ve come out here and insulted me … I don’t want to be accused of reading talking points.”
“I tell you what, man, do you have a single friend? An absolute jerk” pic.twitter.com/V9CM0iT1bn
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 27, 2022
More of these struggles could continue as CNN pivots to more of a middle ground and as cuts to the staff continue.
The new CEO, Chris Licht, spoke to CNBC about the changes to the network and the fact that his review of the company ended last week, CNBC reported.
Licht’s review is part of a larger effort spearheaded by Zaslav, who has told division heads throughout the company to rethink their units and find ways to cut costs. More than 1,000 people will be laid off by Warner Bros. Discovery before the end of the year, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private and ongoing. Warner Bros. Discovery has about 40,000 employees.
Licht doesn’t have a specific order to cut a certain amount of jobs or save a specific percentage of spending. But he’s planning to cut parts of CNN that he have become bloated over time, said the people. A CNN spokesperson declined to comment.
“When [Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav] called and offered me the job, he told me what he was looking for out of CNN,” he said. “And I said, ‘That’s exactly the kind of network I would like to see.’ There’s no daylight between his vision for this network and my vision for this network. The only reason why I took this job is because it was him in charge. I thought, I can deliver this for him.”
“I love the control room, and I love the feeling of sending a text and seeing it show up on screen 10 minutes later, but there’s so much happening that we’ll be paralyzed if everyone is waiting to hear from me,” he said. “That’s just not how I operate.”
But some employees are concerned by his hands-off style and are frightened that he is evaluating them.
There is also the issue of the collapse of CNN+, which former CEO Jeff Zucker thought was the future of the company, which led to hundreds of people being hired, then laid off.
He said he wants opinions from Republicans and Democrats but he does not want disinformation.
“The analogy I love to use is some people like rain, some people don’t like rain. We should give space to that. But we will not have someone who comes on and says it’s not raining,” he said.
But he does believe that the CNN brand was harmed by the hyper-partisan reporting during former President Donald trump’s presidency.
“The brand is the most trusted brand in the world when it comes to journalism, right up there with the BBC,” he said. “I think what happened a little bit here in the past was it’s easy to take the quick sugar high of ratings and outrage. So, I’m trying to do no harm to a great brand.”
