Tagged: Lemon
Is CNN Biased? It Depends on Who You Are, and Who You Know.
Washington Post Cable Gamer Erik Wemple asks: Dear CNN, are you biased? That title has already been updated to reflect the two-week suspension handed out to reporter Elise Labott, who tweeted criticism of a House bill on refugees:
Mr. Wemple explained why even a single tweet can be damaging to CNN’s brand:
Evenhandedness, mind you, isn’t just a matter of journalistic principle for CNN. It’s a business imperative. Competitors Fox News and MSNBC are “two partisan networks, that are looking out for their viewers,” CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker has said. That split, he has argued, makes CNN ever more “essential” to viewers.
Sure, fine, whatever. But CNN viewers know that the network’s dedication to impartial news gathering and spin-free reporting is not always consistent. Sometimes it depends on who you are:
Sometimes if you’re a big name anchor the powers that be will look the other way. When Chris Cuomo was on his high horse about refugees he chewed out his Republican guest, telling him “There’s a lot of vetting, you know that!” and wagging a rhetorical finger about “compassion.” He famously disputed the notion that sanctuary cities are cities that provide sanctuary (to illegal immigrants). On twitter his history is even more colorful but you can just look at today’s haul for some really loaded terminology:
Compared to Elise Labott’s pictorial rhetoric, Chris Cuomo’s language is far more pointed and partisan. “Your ideas are the problem…Reason over fear and hate…” Cuomo’s viewpoint is not implied via sentimental imagery but stated unambiguously, complete with personal comments about those who disagree with him.
In record time Elise Labott gets suspended for two weeks, but somehow that never happens to Chris Cuomo. Zero-tolerance enforcement is applied sparingly when it comes to the marquee names, the people favored by the higher-ups. Sorry Elise. It’s not fair. It’s Zuckertown.
Forget It, Jake…It’s Coopertown.
CNN Commentary reports on the players for CNN’s upcoming Democratic debate:
CNN is repeating its format from its previous GOP debate. Anderson Cooper, who was reportedly the debate moderator, will be joined by a panel of questioners made up of chief political correspondent Dana Bash and CNN en Espanol political anchor Juan Carlos Lopez. CNN Tonight anchor Don Lemon will also ask questions of the Democratic candidates submitted via Facebook.
CNN is repeating its format, but not the participants. Gone are moderator Jake Tapper and questioner Hugh Hewitt (the latter a concession to Salem broadcasting, the conservative partner who apparently didn’t 100% trust CNN to treat the GOP fairly). As it turned out neither Hewitt nor Dana Bash had much to do in that talkathon. Tapper set the contentious tone that pervaded the three-hour-plus event.
Nobody seems to be questioning the reason for jettisoning most of the team from the GOP debate, but maybe it was more about who they wanted to replace them with. Both Cooper and Don Lemon are openly gay, and not shy about offering “analysis” on issues relevant to that constituency—which just happens to be a key Democratic voting block. Mr. Lopez is an unexpected addition (there wasn’t any fourth questioner with the Repubs). Lopez is particularly attuned to matters involving immigrants—which just happens to be another interest group important to Democrats. But The Cable Gamer is probably overthinking this. This could all be simple coincidence. After all, why not fire the team that delivered CNN its highest ratings in history?
Meanwhile, what could Jake Tapper be thinking? After succeeding wildly with the game plan to provoke fights among the GOP participants and provide CNN producers with a plethora of two-shots, Tapper will find himself watching the sequel from the sidelines. Will Cooper be a provocateur like Jake was, needling and prodding the participants to go at each other? The Cable Gamer has to think if CNN wanted Tapper-type questioning they would get Tapper, not yank him off the stage. Now it’s silver-haired Anderson Cooper’s show, and however it turns out, it won’t be the same without Jake.
Blood from Whatever: At CNN Half a Quote Is Better than One
Friday night Don Lemon invited Donald Trump on CNN’s air, and the fallout from Trump’s volley of personal attacks on Megyn Kelly (and others) is still reverberating tonight. What was going on with the invite, the interview, and the fallout? And how did half of a quote vanish?
Friday morning it was already known that Trump was embarking on a jihad against Fox News and Megyn Kelly in particular.
Trump was booked with Don Lemon at 9:00 pm (opposite The Kelly File). Naturally the Fox News angle is on the table—a dig at the competition is always welcome in Zuckertown. And in case you think zinging Fox wasn’t behind this booking, look how quickly that topic came up. After a preliminary “how did it go?” opening, Don Lemon’s very next question was:
LEMON: Do you think, because you mentioned Fox, do you think there was an agenda on the part of Fox News to target you? And if you do, why is that?
There it is, at the very top of Don Lemon’s to-do list. And in The Cable Game that order is never random. Trump delivered the expected insults of Megyn Kelly:
TRUMP: I don’t have a lot of respect for Megyn Kelly, she’s a lightweight and, you know, she came out there reading her little script and trying to, you know, be tough and be sharp. And when you meet her, you realize she is not very tough and she is not very sharp. She is zippo. But she came out and, you know, I’m sitting there. I’m standing there. I knew there it was going to be a big crowd because I always have.
But then:
TRUMP: I mean NBC renewed The Apprentice but I wasn’t able to do it because I’m running for President. But as you know, they renewed it. I’m one of the few people in the history of television to turn down a renewal. Mark Burnett said…
Yada yada yada, and Trump was wandering off-topic. So Don Lemon swooped in:
LEMON: Well, let’s talk about Megyn Kelly because you brought her up. She did push you, pushed a lot of people, but what is it with you and Megyn Kelly?
Back on track. Trump came through. After how he doesn’t respect her as a journalist (“highly overrated”) came the money quote:
TRUMP: …she starts asking me all sorts of ridiculous questions, and you know, you can see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her—wherever, but she was, in my opinion, she was off base.
We’ll come back to this. After more Trump insights about Ms. Kelly, Lemon decided this would be a good time to quote the slurs Trump had tweeted earlier, because this stuff “might drive some women voters away.” That Don Lemon: he’s a latter-day Sun Tzu. And then, an especially brilliant follow-up:
LEMON: I have to ask you and I’m wondering if you think that Fox stacked the deck against you?
Fox again! And there was even more:
LEMON: Would you do another Fox debate again?
LEMON: So then would you do another Fox debate or would you drop out if there is another Fox debate?
Yes, CNN would love to see that happen. Do we have to explain why? The conversation got into the debate itself and some of the issues raised, but Lemon couldn’t wait forever, so eventually we’re back at Fox News again:
LEMON: You say the media treats you unfairly you had some very angry words for Frank Luntz who with oppose for being focus group asking a lot of questions…
Like Domino’s, Trump delivered. A little further down Mr. Lemon decided to ask Trump if he’s thin-skinned, phrasing it as if he’s almost sorry he has to be so impertinent as to even ask such a thing:
LEMON: Do you worry that it undermines you’re a tough guy and there’s a I’m going to stand up to Putin, to China, to Mexico et cetera yet your demeanor might suggest, it might suggest, to people that you are thin-skinned?
There was another detour to Fox News and Megyn Kelly before Lemon closed the interview:
LEMON: Donald Trump, you’re welcome to come co-host with me any time and we thank you for joining us.
The question The Cable Game asks is: faced with the misogynist and ugly “blood from whatever” comment made on CNN’s air concerning a female journalist, what was the appropriate reaction from Don Lemon? Just let it hang there and leave it to social media? Or should he have done more, at minimum a disclaimer that CNN does not approve of such smears? One writer on journalism thinks so:
Trump went deep into the gutter attacking Kelly when he talked to CNN… Journalism organizations should condemn such a personal attack on a journalist who is doing her job… It is not political correctness that should push us to demand an apology, it is decency.
Don Lemon certainly did none of that. He instigated Trump, but didn’t push back. (Lemon’s weak reference to Megyn Kelly as “respected” late in the interview was ineffectual and was without reference to Trump’s ugly slur.) He made no statement of support for Megyn Kelly either for himself or on behalf of CNN.
Then, in a lengthy post-interview chat with several guests, the “blood from whatever” comment was utterly avoided. Twice reference was made to “blood coming out of her eyes,” and twice nobody mentioned the inflammatory second half of the quote: “blood coming out of her—whatever.” That too is something that doesn’t happen by accident in The Cable Game. And if you doubt that, look at the headline for CNN’s story by media guy Brian Stelter
Heaven forbid CNN gets on Trump’s bad side; he might not phone in his Sunday show appearance. Maybe if we’re lucky by tomorrow morning Brian Stelter will restore the rest of Trump’s quote.
The Spirit of Peter Trueman
Whether CNN’s attempt at a game show was a “one-time thing” or a harbinger of things to come depends on what the Nielsen gods report about its premiere episode. Scheduling it opposite the Celebrity Apprentice finale (a showdown with a heavy cable news resonance about it) was probably not the best programming move. But even lukewarm ratings are enough to trounce MSNBC these days, so the odds favor its return. Like most television, it’s an idea that dates back to the medium’s earliest years. It isn’t new to The Cable Game either: Bill O’Reilly used to do a news quiz, though it was just a five minute segment once a week.
The erstwhile “most trusted name in news” will put pretty much anything on the air these days as they “broaden the definition of news.” Documentaries arguably qualify. But documentaries purchased from independent filmmakers, with lax or nonexistent editorial standards and often some very large axes to grind, are problematic. And are we seeing hours devoted to pole dancers, sex workers, and cannabis because they are urgent page-one issues? Or for their appeal to younger viewers? All of this is in addition to shows you’d ordinarily expect to see on The Travel Channel (Parts Unknown) or Discovery (Somebody’s Gotta Do It). There’s even a series with Morgan Spurlock, apparently a reward for his tendentious, unreliable Super Size Me.
Perhaps CNN will air a Real Housewives style “documentary” series following Chris Cuomo around after work. Maybe strand a handful of CNN anchors on an island: I’m a Journalist! Get Me Out of Here! With reruns of other people’s reality shows (Shark Tank, Forensic Files) finding their way onto so-called “news channels,” Canadian newsman Peter Trueman comes to mind. He would end his broadcasts (on the fledgling Global network) with several minutes of commentary, sometimes with only the most remote connection to the news of the day. And then his closing mantra: “That may not be news, but that, too, is reality.” Nowadays that sounds more and more like the programming philosophy at CNN.
The Cable Game 