The Most Busted Name in News
When news broke that a CNN contributor had given a town hall question to Hillary Clinton’s camp in advance, there was a lot of obfuscation. Donna Brazile, the leaker, sputtered about persecution and called the charge “fictitious.” CNN’s media reporter, eager to remove the stench from his home team, advanced a theory that would pin the blame on Roland Martin, the News One personality who was co-anchor of the event. And CNN pretty much got away with it.
Until the second Wikileaks revelation, which documented Brazile leaking another question. Once again the lucky recipient was Hillary Clinton, but this time the debate was staged entirely by CNN. There had no co-sponsor they could conveniently implicate. Brazile was fired (she was already under suspension while she served as interim DNC chair) and that was the end of that.
Only it wasn’t. Real media reporters started asking inconvenient questions, and the excuses made for leak #1 didn’t fly with leak #2. CNN reflexively initiated a blackout on the latest developments as soon as the news broke, so even on the evening of Oct 31, when other news organizations were making this one of their top stories, CNN avoided any mention of it on air. The Cable Gamer dug through CNN’s transcript page for Nov 1: no reports or segments on Brazile turned up (other than a passing reference on CNN International). A couple of times a guest brought up Brazile’s name, only to have the anchor quickly bat it away and change the subject. This one with a stammering Brooke Baldwin is particularly embarrassing:
By Nov 2 guests were apparently given their marching orders: thou shalt not mention Donna Brazile. And nobody did. As we are about to hit “Publish” the same appears true for Nov 3. Meanwhile your Cable Gamer had been trying to get some explanation from CNN’s media reporter why he wasn’t reporting this story on CNN’s air:
And then there was this:
Mr. Stelter has not replied to any of these questions.
CNN tried its best. They pinned it on Roland Martin. When that didn’t work they began an on-air blackout that persists to this day, with their media guy ignoring straightforward, simple questions. But the truth will out:
CNN proved that its nickname, the Clinton News Network, is deserved. Only after WikiLeaks showed that Democratic Party honcho Donna Brazile, a paid commentator, twice gave Clinton debate questions in advance did the network sever its ties with her. Tellingly, Clinton never rejected the insider advantage against rival Bernie Sanders, nor seemed surprised by it. And CNN still shows no curiosity about whether anyone else participated in the scam.
Sorry, CNN, you’re Busted! But good.
The Cable Game 