(NewsGlobal.com)- Chris Licht, the network’s new president, has made it clear that he wants to move CNN away from being anti-Trump TV to reclaim the journalistic credibility the network previously had.
His staff and programming changes first gave the impression that he was serious. Jeffrey Toobin, John Harwood, and Brian Stelter were all dismissed by Licht for their negative criticism of former President Trump. Then, he demoted ultra-liberal anchor Don Lemon from primetime to a soon-to-be-revamped morning program with Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins, replacing “New Day” co-hosts John Berman and Brianna Keilar With her widely-watched “Roll The Tape” segments, which virtually never targeted Democrats, Keilar, like Lemon, became one of CNN’s most vocal opponents of Republicans.
For Lemon’s former two-hour evening time slot, the network executive chose CNN anchor Alisyn Camerota and analyst Laura Coates until the November elections.
However, Licht’s most significant risk was his decision to occupy the 9 p.m. ET time slot, which had been empty since Chris Cuomo, CNN’s most popular presenter, was fired in December 2021.
Licht allegedly views Tapper, who has hosted the midday show “The Lead” for over ten years, as someone he wants as the “new face” of CNN. After serving as the moderator for presidential primary debates in the 2016 and 2020 election cycles and the Parkland town hall in 2018, Tapper benefits from his high profile on the network. He also oversaw the network’s coverage of the Russia inquiry.
Jake Tapper was just as biased throughout the Trump administration, even if he wasn’t nearly as boisterous as his colleagues Lemon and Keilar. Since Biden took office, Tapper has intensified his animosity toward Trump and broadened it to include a significant portion of the Republican Party. The first eight episodes of Jake Tapper’s new show, “CNN Tonight,” were reviewed by Fox News Digital. Despite having Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and President Joe Biden as guests, Tapper only attracted 854,000 viewers. The softball interview with Biden was criticized for garnering so little attention.
His monologues have included attempts at Russian accents and references to rappers like Humpty Hump and Salt-N-Pepa. Tapper warned in his lecture after the hearing that Trump “liked” the “imagery of violence and brutality”.
Jake Tapper’s opening lectures have focused on Jan. 6, attacked Trump and Republicans, or mocked right-wing social media sites in five of his eight talks.
This “new face” is the same as the old face. Licht ought to re-examine.
