CNN’s noticeable shift to the right seems to be part of an overarching strategy under the direction of CNN CEO Chris Licht and supported by parent company Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav. Zaslav admitted at a recent media conference that he and Licht had told GOP members of Congress that appearing on CNN would help them get House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s House leadership vote across the finish line back in January.
As Deadline reported:
“Republicans are back on the air. Republicans weren’t on the air,” on CNN, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav told a media conference Thursday as he said the storied brand is moving to become less of an “advocacy network” under new leadership.
“During the McCarthy hearings, for those four days, we had 75 Republicans on the air, 41 went on us before they want on Fox [News]. And the reason is, as I’ve said, and Chris [CNN chief Chris Licht] has too, to a number of them, they are not going to get one more vote on Fox News. They’ve already got that.” He was referring to successive votes over four days in January as the GOP struggled to unite its ranks to reach a victory for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Zaslav also claimed, “CNN should be where people come for the best version of the truth and for journalism, and that is what we are building.”
His comments come just days after Licht held a disastrous town hall for former President Donald Trump (the day after he was found guilty of defamation and sexual abuse in a civil suit). Under Licht’s leadership, two CNN journalists who openly criticized the right have been fired. Reporting suggests that these moves were part of a concerted effort to prevent CNN personalities from continuing to call out Republicans for undermining democracy.
Licht’s recent decisions are accelerating CNN’s turn to the right. CNN has also hired pro-Trump commentators in recent years, allowed commentators and guests to lie about climate scientists, platformed a variety of right-wing figures to spread misinformation on the network, and been celebrated by right-wing media for parroting extremist talking points.
These changes have been disastrous for CNN’s ratings, which continued their downward trend after the Trump town hall. Deadline reported that despite falling ratings, Zaslav claimed that “advertisers are interested in CNN again. They don’t want to be part of an advocacy network. We’ve had meeting after meeting and they say, ‘We are with you.’”
Zaslav made similar comments earlier in the month about CNN shifting away from being a so-called “advocacy network.” Media Matters reported that the comments demonstrate that the network “will pursue ratings and a false sense of evenhandedness rather than taking seriously the genuine ongoing threat to American democracy presented by disgraced former President Donald Trump.”
