According to a lengthy Vanity Fair article that examines the ongoing credibility implosion at NBC News, CNN Chief Jeff Zucker used his left-wing cable news network to “fan the flames” of the Brian Williams scandal in the hopes that it would further his scheme to eventually hire the disgraced anchor:
The most Machiavellian scenario, floated by an NBC partisan, is that Jeff Zucker, whose distaste for Comcast executives is well known, has fanned the flames of controversy so that he can eventually snare Williams for CNN—not as a newsman but as the long-sought replacement for Larry King. “That’s the perfect solution,” a source says. “Zucker gets a star, and Brian gets the talk show he always wanted.”
This is a nice way for Vanity Fair to button up the story of Williams, a news anchor who reportedly wanted to replace Jay Leno and David Letterman. Apparently, Williams primary desire is to be America’s Raconteur — which is a nice to describe a man accused of serial-lying for years to puff himself up.
The move to CNN, however, would also make sense for CNN — a network also in journalistic decline since the arrival of Zucker. CNN’s serial fabrications, outright lies, the fabrication of evidence against George Zimmerman, the fomenting of mob violence in Ferguson, the lies about the religious freedom bills in Indiana and Arkansas, would make the network a perfect soft-landing spot for a disgraced Brian Williams.
One piece of this supposed Zucker conspiracy that doesn’t make sense is CNN’s role in using a bad source in an attempt to rescue Williams. In the early days of the Williams scandal, CNN’s media reporter Brian Stelter came to Williams rescue with news of a pilot who claimed that Williams had indeed been in a chopper that sustained enemy fire.
CNN pushed this narrative heavily, and for a brief moment it looked as though Williams could survive.
There was just one problem.
Like everything CNN told America about George Zimmerman and Ferguson, there was nothing true about this story. Stelter, who was already suffering credibility issues, was finally forced to publish a full retraction.
Like NBC News, CNN doesn’t really care about credibility. Zucker has turned CNN into a full-fledged Hate Network designed only to advocate for the increasing power o the federal government and its advocates, and to stir racial and anti-Christian hatred. If Brian Williams is willing and able to advance that cause, he will have a long and prosperous CNN career, regardless of ratings.
Piers Morgan lost his job, not because of low ratings or the fact he made a serial-fool of himself pushing gun control, but because he made such a fool of himself he was no longer an effective advocate for left-wing causes.
Ratings mean less than nothing at CNN.
John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.