A long Chris Licht profile

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JW

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Jun 2, 2023, 7:14:21 PM6/2/23
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PGage

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Jun 3, 2023, 12:18:58 AM6/3/23
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Very long (9000 words) and very long awaited. I found it was easy to get around the Atlantic paywall be accessing it through the many links on Twitter (is it always that easy to get around paywalls?).

I am very surprised that Licht comes off so much worse than even I had previously seen him. I knew he was enthralled to his corporate overlords, but assumed he was also competent and perhaps even talented. Perhaps he is, but not in his current position, and he is lying either to everyone else or himself about what he is doing and why.

He repeats the same analogy several times in the piece, trying to convey his sense of what it means to get more balance in CNN’s coverage: “His network would host people who like rain as well as people who don’t like rain. But, he said, CNN would not host people who deny that it’s raining when it is.”

Licht seems clueless to the obvious contradiction here, since by putting Trump and his fluffers on, with little or no effective counter, to deny the election and justify their attempt to overthrown the Constitutional transfer of power, he is exactly hosting people who deny it is raining when it is. Licht may or may not be self deluded, but his bosses are clear eyed - they want CNN to be another conservative News voice. Period. Not more accurate or with more journalistic integrity, just more conservative.

As I have been arguing for years, Licht is of course right that there were serious problems with Zucker’s CNN, but the problem was not that they were too liberal or ideological, but too personal. CNN scored through the Trump era by turning the news into a cult of personality, with so many of the anchors and reporters making the story about themselves. Cooper is not the most obnoxious, but he pioneered this approach to cable news a long time ago, reporting on war and disaster by telling us more about how it made him feel than what was actually happening. A little of this, in extremis, is gripping (the catch in Cronkite’s voice as he reports the death of a President). As a SOP, it is a disaster. 

The solution is not to make the staff more like Fox, but to train them to focus on the facts. Licht pays lip service to this, but in practice is only focused on questions like: “Do gun owning farmers in Kansas like our show?”. And that’s because that is the only kind of question Zaslov and Malone care about.


On Fri, 2 Jun 2023 at 4:14 PM JW <redb...@gmail.com> wrote:

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Bob Jersey

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Jun 3, 2023, 12:42:08 PM6/3/23
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No, it isn't... the links must be shared by a $ubscriber to the provider in question, through whichever social channel (or through an email message, in my case, to b**j*****@ptd.net, figure it out) so that more specific codes are part of the URL (this is also how the NYT handles them). I can not go right to their tweetybox and open a story without seeing the To read the full story, start your free trial today box at bottom-window in the resultant page.
B

PGage, June 3rd, in part:

Paul Murray

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Jun 3, 2023, 4:56:43 PM6/3/23
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It's available in Apple News, for anyone with one of their devices. That's how I read it last night.

As much as I loathe the man, interviewing Trump is unfortunately newsworthy. The town hall format only works when the subject is operating is good faith and the audience composition is somewhat representative of the population as a whole. Filling the audience with Trump supporters -- *which Licht pushed for* -- was completely indefensible. As somebody famous tweeted, Will CNN be reporting it as a contribution in kind to the campaign? Not having people who have previously interviewed TFG provide advice to the less-experienced interviewer, just plain dumb.

The author clearly spent a lot of time with Licht, and at one point in the article it becomes clear that Licht's personal trainer has more sense than he does, at least in some respects.

Also noted: Both Colbert and Scarborough advised him not to take the job. And when the subject's biggest fan to appear in the article is Frank Luntz -- well, that says something. (Zaslov played cat and mouse, not wanting to go on the record, then agreeing to, then changing the terms -- to which the author correctly said no.)

I couldn't tell if Licht has lost all self-awareness, or is in overwhelming denial about how poorly this is going.

On the positive side, I completely got his frustration with Don Lemon.

He's doing what Zaslov and John Malone want, so even if he goes, the mission will continue under someone else.

Tom Wolper

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Jun 3, 2023, 6:17:17 PM6/3/23
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If I come across a paywall, as with The Atlantic, I click on Reader View and the whole text of the article usually comes up. I used to click on the Print option and the article would be laid out in a printer ready format. I don’t know if that still works.

For me, Licht’s problem is that newsmakers have learned to game the system and weaponize their agendas. Interviews with politicians turn out to generate some heat and no light and politicians have learned that they can lie shamelessly and not pay any consequences. Trump specifically has no fear of television cameras and he can quickly read whether he needs the demeanor for a deposition or a rally and he can effortlessly adjust.

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JW

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Jun 4, 2023, 6:53:59 AM6/4/23
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> Very long (9000 words) and very long awaited. I found it was easy to get
> around the Atlantic paywall be accessing it through the many links on
> Twitter (is it always that easy to get around paywalls?).

1. I had no problem when I originally brought the article up with one of those Twitter links, and just copied the URL from that tab. If I thought there would be an issue, I'd have said something. My apologies for the link not acting the way I expected it to.

2. Not too surprisingly, the effectiveness of paywalls varies. In many cases, clicking on Reader View in Firefox is sufficient. (Sometimes reloading is required.) And there are plenty of publications where there's no simple way to get around the paywall.

I wouldn't post anything here that I couldn't read easily, or that I thought people would have a problem with.

And, despite (or even because of) its length, I thought this was a terrific look at the state of CNN.

PGage

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Jun 4, 2023, 7:18:15 AM6/4/23
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Errata: I was misled by a news report - I was able to copy and paste the piece into a Word file, and it is more like 15,500 words, not 9,000.

I think there is no question Trump is newsworthy, andI disagree with some of my friends who argue that credible journalists should ignore him. But Licht makes an ass of himself when he arrogantly asserts (as he dies in the article, several times, prior to the Town Hall) that he doesn’t get whatever one is so worried about, as he has figured out how to handle Trump (he thought it was just to not overreact, and calmly confront him with contrary facts when necessary). Again, this criminally distorts or misunderstands the problem, both with Trump and with Zucker’s CNN.

The  description of Licht in the immediate aftermath of the Town Hall is pathetic, and almost makes you feel sorry for him. It reminds me of David Niven at then of *The Bridge on The River Kwai*, when he suddenly realizes what a colossal and dangerous asshole he has been (though Licht lacks the good grace to sacrifice himself to fix things).

I don’t have an easy answer to the Trump problem, but I think giving him an audience of fanboys to play to live is not part of it. A public figure whose behavior is unconstrained by shame regarding bad behavior or lies can not be managed simply being fact checked, even by a more experienced journalist. They should have had a more balanced audience, with questions video recorded, and recorded all of Trump’s answers, and then edited it for broadcast an hour or two later. With his record, if you  put him otherwise unconstrained live on your air, you become partly responsible for the damage his lies and misbehavior cause.

And yes, if I had taken over CNN from Zaslov, the first think I would have done was fire Lemon’s smug and performative, “it’s-all-about-me” ass.

And, in case it has not already been noted here for the record, best recording that David Leavy, a leading Zaslov-whisperer who no doubt will continue to report directly to him, was appointed the COO at CNN the day before the Atlantic pice was published, a move widely perceived as at best an ominous vote of no-confidence in Licht by WBD:

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Bob Jersey

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Jun 4, 2023, 4:47:27 PM6/4/23
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Using MS-Edge instead of my usual Opera, I was let in, but the paywall will keep me from further reading there till at least next month.    B

PGage, to Paul Murray, in part, June 4th:

PGage

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Jun 4, 2023, 9:29:26 PM6/4/23
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One of the Ex-CNN precincts heard from…


Kevin M.

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Jun 4, 2023, 9:33:14 PM6/4/23
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Put bluntly, if tomorrow CNN ceased operations and instead started showing nothing but reruns of Gilligan’s Island and McHale’s Navy, it would be better for America. 

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Paul Murray

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Jun 4, 2023, 11:33:25 PM6/4/23
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> The description of Licht in the immediate aftermath of the Town Hall is pathetic, and almost makes you feel sorry for him. It reminds me of David Niven at then of *The Bridge on The River Kwai*, when he suddenly realizes what a colossal and dangerous asshole he has been (though Licht lacks the good grace to sacrifice himself to fix things).

*cough* Alec Guinness *cough*

> For me, Licht’s problem is that newsmakers have learned to game the system and weaponize their agendas. Interviews with politicians turn out to generate some heat and no light and politicians have learned that they can lie shamelessly and not pay any consequences. Trump specifically has no fear of television cameras and he can quickly read whether he needs the demeanor for a deposition or a rally and he can effortlessly adjust.

Yep, another argument against live interviews. Of course, when ratings are your primary concern, "live" is the bright shiny object that cable news can't resist.

And agreeing with the feedback, Licht probably shortened his runway with that article.

PGage

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Jun 5, 2023, 12:53:15 AM6/5/23
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Yikes! I was probably thinking Licht is more like Niven than Guinness…

Mark Jeffries

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Jun 5, 2023, 11:34:52 AM6/5/23
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The question is if what seems to be happening happens and Licht is out, can he come crawling back to Colbert (WGA strike permitting) or is he truly done in broadcasting?

As unlikely as it is, it could still happen.

Mark Jeffries
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Kevin M.

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Jun 5, 2023, 11:53:43 AM6/5/23
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On Mon, Jun 5, 2023 at 8:34 AM Mark Jeffries <spotl...@gmail.com> wrote:
The question is if what seems to be happening happens and Licht is out, can he come crawling back to Colbert (WGA strike permitting) or is he truly done in broadcasting?

As unlikely as it is, it could still happen.

More likely he gets a job at Newsmax. They like people with fungible morality. 

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Mark Jeffries

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Jun 5, 2023, 12:06:35 PM6/5/23
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Here's Zucker's view of the whole sorry mess (gift link, no paywall):


And Brian Stelter expands on the tweets in his first writing on CNN since Licht fired him:

Tom Wolper

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Jun 5, 2023, 2:50:22 PM6/5/23
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It’s absurd to think that Licht could go back to the Late Show. Colbert tried to be his own executive producer and it became clear to CBS that he was in over his head. CBS sent Licht in to give the production some structure and to relieve the pressure from Colbert. When Licht left for CNN, the structure stayed and a different EP took over. However Licht would leave CNN why would Colbert take him back? He would have to fire (or demote) his current EP who hasn’t done anything wrong. And knowing Colbert’s sensibilities, plus those of his staff and probably crew, Licht would be toxic and unable to command any loyalty.


Adam Bowie

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Jun 7, 2023, 8:45:34 AM6/7/23
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Bob Jersey

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Jun 7, 2023, 10:04:48 AM6/7/23
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Confirmed by the company: https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/07/media/chris-licht-cnn (link)

It came after an "embarrassing" apology at a staff meeting, said now-"Reliable Sources" presenter Oliver Darcy:

B

Adam Bowie, to Tom Wolper etc., June 7th:

PGage

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Jun 7, 2023, 10:14:07 AM6/7/23
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I can’s decide if I should loathe or feel sorry for this guy. I guess both. He was used badly by Zaslov and then dumped. But he was never more than a Wambsgans, and deserves what he gets (which of course will include millions of dollars). Meanwhile, it’s not like WBD is suddenly going to decide to change directions and go strong on journalism.

Steve Timko

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Jun 7, 2023, 11:21:42 AM6/7/23
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PGage

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Jun 7, 2023, 11:38:57 AM6/7/23
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Has Colbert been talking about Licht/CNN at all? If he says anything tonight would be interested in a report.

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Jim Ellwanger

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Jun 7, 2023, 11:42:42 AM6/7/23
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If he says anything, it won't be on his show, which is still in reruns due to the writers' strike.

PGage

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Jun 7, 2023, 1:40:48 PM6/7/23
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Oh. Right.

Paul Murray

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Jun 7, 2023, 7:49:12 PM6/7/23
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I commented on a WaPo story about this that the writer's strike is a lucky break for Colbert in this respect, at least. As much as he liked Licht, it would have been impossible to ignore this very public debacle in his monologues.
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