This weeks Whiner of the Week is Jeff Zucker, President of CNN. CNN in the days of Ted Turner prided itself on getting the news delivered quickly and precisely. Their slogan was “The Most Trusted Name In News“.
Today, CNN has changed a bit, pushing forward bits of news and appears to be emphasizing what the president of CNN wishes.
Project Veritas (PV) recently released a number of video tapes, available at youtube.com, made by an insider whistle blower. They edited these tapes a bit and put them out for public consumption. They appear to paint a picture of a CNN controlled by Jeff Zucker, who seems determined to nip at President Trump’s heels whenever possible. They can be long and somewhat repetitive. But what comes out of them is the feeling that CNN controls what news is presented, and how it is presented. The don’t report the facts as say Walter Cronkite might. They appear to actively spin the facts.
Did CNN Create The Trump Presidency?
In a strange way Jeff Zucker, when he was an NBC executive, helped create Donald Trump. As the head of the entertainment division his zeal for profits and ratings lead him to support Trump’s TV show, The Apprentice.
2:34-Nice video description how Jeff Zucker created and enabled the Trump Presidency.
This gave Trump national exposure in American Homes and helped ease his way into politics. Then Zucker took over CNN that was ailing at the time, and the Trump candidacy, and the coverage CNN gave it, boosted CNN, and gave Trump free advertising press that other candidates didn’t get. A Quid Pro Quo so to speak. Trump was a ratings machine. CNN was making money.
Leslie Moonves, chairman of CBS, said of the Trump phenomenon in March 2016, according to the Hollywood Reporter. “The money’s rolling in, and this is fun. It’s a terrible thing to say. But bring it on, Donald. Keep going.”
But then, because of timing of negative coverage on Hillary, (which she seems to have a history of), and Hillary’s not visiting key states, Trump wins the 2016 election.
Time to Slay the Dragon
Ouch! It appears Jeff Zucker had created a monster, and CNN has been mobilized ever since then to take the monster of Trump down.
It appears Jeff Zucker shifted the focus of CNN from just reporting the news, to attempting to report according to his narrative. Adia Jacobs describes some of the techniques in this video.
0:34-Adia Jacobs describes how they went from reporting to panels to shape the news.
CNN 9am Meeting with President Zucker
Trump does say some crazy things. How much is just real news, versus how much is a team sitting in a conference room saying crazy things, we will never know.
The alligator story and shooting migrants in the legs? Hard to say.
2:01-Some clips from Jeff Zuckers 9AM All Hands meeting. Once the meeting is over, the CNN team engages like good employees.
Patrick Davis describes how CNN attempts to push it’s narrative and create emergencies for viewers.
Creating viewer excitement has been around since William Randolph Hearst, nothing new.
2:51-A CNN Field Ops manager describes how CNN pushes stories.
Some part of the PV tapes deal with the CNN newscasters and their perceived bias. Here a CNN team discusses Don Lemon.
0:49-a CNN team discusses the objectivity of Don Lemon.
Some part of the PV tapes deal with the CNN newscasters and their perceived bias. This video shows a correspondent off camera giving his opinion, which you will never hear on CNN. Journalism?
0:41-Senior Justice Correspondent Evan Perez, ever the company man, giving his opinion off-camera about a recent news event.
This 3:25 video from Project Veritas Part-1 describes a feeling among some employees about wanting to do real reporting, but money needs to be made, so….
References
- Project Veritas CNN - Part 1 - Insider Blows Whistle on Network President Jeff Zucker
- Project Veritas CNN - Part 2 - CNN Leadership(Jeff Zucker) Picks the Winners and Losers on the Eve of the CNN Debate. (Warren-Yes!, Tulsi, Yang(No)
- Project Veritas CNN - Part 3 - Jeff Zucker's 9AM Calls
- Project Veritas CNN - Part 4 - Alleged Sexual Misconduct bt CNN Exec Steve Brusker #MeToo