New CNN boss Chris Licht is standing by his effort to make the 24-hour news platform less partisan, despite receiving a flurry of attacks.
“The uninformed vitriol, especially from the left, has been stunning,” he told the New York Times, in a series of interviews that were published Sunday. “Which proves my point: so much of what passes for news is name-calling, half-truths and desperation,” he added.
“The uninformed vitriol, especially from the left, has been stunning.” https://t.co/IwTXy7vsEc
— Jason Kint (@jason_kint) December 18, 2022
Licht took over the top spot at CNN in February, axing the network’s struggling streaming service “CNN+” as one of his first acts of business. His tenure has also seen multiple lay-offs, a drop in revenue and in ratings even as he continues to attract more viewers by offering broader, less political and less partisan coverage, the outlet reported. (RELATED: CNN’s Gentle Shilling For Twitter Execs Shows The Network Will Never Be What Chris Licht Wants)
Among Licht’s more notable critics is former MSNBC host and former colleague Keith Olbermann. Olbermann publicly accused Licht of being a “TV Fascist” for moving liberal CNN host Don Lemon from his own prime-time show to a morning show with former Daily Caller reporter and CNN White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins and Poppy Harlow, former host of “CNN Newsroom,” the Times reported.
In an effort to bring more Republicans back to the network, Licht went to Capitol Hill on what was dubbed an “apology tour” but his efforts seemed to have paid off as several notable GOP leaders, including Kevin McCarthy have reappeared on the network after a long absence.
Licht isn’t interested in controversy for the sake of controversy. Instead, his hope for the future of CNN is for the network to provide a “rational conversation about polarizing issues,” the Times reported.
“This is not vanilla, centrist or boring,” Licht stated. Instead, he views it as an attempt to look at controversial issues from different points of view, the Times reported.
