CNN’s ratings are once again edging up against record lows and now that Piers Morgan is on the way out, the cable news network has two full hours of primetime real estate to plug. CNN is a failing network. Jeff Zucker has been in charge for over a year, and the network is not only still failing, it is becoming more and more leftist, divisive, anti-Christian, and just plain dumb.
Here is a short-list of Zucker’s five biggest mistakes:
1. Turning CNN Hard to the Left
On this very day,f you watched CNN you witnessed a network in stunning ethical decline. Any remaining brand-leverage CNN enjoyed as a serious and unbiased news network has been intentionally chucked out the window by Jeff Zucker. The new CNN chief has inexplicably asked his on-air personalities to offer “attitude” and the result has been nothing more than a dumber version of left-wing MSNBC.
Just this morning, those who doubt the ever-faltering theory of Global Warming were mocked by CNN anchor Carol Costello as “climate deniers.” Costello then joined CNN’s morning show “New Day” in branding as de facto anti-gay proposed laws designed to protect religious liberty. If that is not troubling enough, on Sunday, CNN’s media reporter suggested the media silence Climate Change doubters completely.
Using these tactics along with racially-charged local crimes and double standards that celebrate Bill Maher while using Ted Nugent as a club against the GOP, over the last year CNN has devolved into an ethically corrupt enterprise dedicated to racial division, anti-Christian bigotry, left-wing identity politics, and the promotion of Democrat candidates and their causes.
2. Dumbing Down CNN
Whales, cruise ships, local crimes, everything gay, identity politics — CNN is getting dumber by the day.
There are some exceptions, but other than editorial choices, what makes CNN look so dumb is that too many of the network’s anchors just don’t have the intellectual heft necessary to carry a whole hour devoted mostly to the analysis of huge issues such as Global Warming, gay marriage, and race. This lack of smarts, common sense, and real world experience is probably why so many want to close the issue as settled.
Watching CNN’s teleprompter-readers grapple with issues they don’t fully comprehend is frequently painful. For the most part, MSNBC at least has a stable of intelligent individuals anchoring its shows. You might not agree with them, but they aren’t dumb.
These days, more often than not, CNN resembles something closer to this than The Most Trusted Name In News:
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3. Not ‘Fixing’ Piers Morgan
Zucker didn’t hire Piers Morgan but he stood by as one of the network’s high-profile primetime stars crashed and burned. Maybe Zucker was working out some Machiavellian plot to get rid of Morgan. But judging by his decision-making so far, crediting Zucker with that kind of orchestration is a brain cell too far.
Up until the day he was canceled, Morgan was engaging in the very behavior that got him canceled: namely, his mindless and imperious rants about gun control — a subject he has never been able to truly grasp on any kind of intellectual level.
Morgan is a canary in the CNN coalmine, proof that the network would rather push a left-wing agenda than succeed.
4. Firing Soledad O’Brien
Only Jeff Zucker could fire the low-rated Soledad O’Brien from her morning shift and replace that disaster with an even bigger one. “New Day” with Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan, and Michaela Pereira isn’t just a ratings catastrophe, it is Zucker’s crown jewel of a ratings catastrophe. After leading the “Today Show” to ratings glory, morning was supposed to be Zucker’s wheelhouse.
“New Day” also seems to lead the way for what is happening with the rest the of the network: shallow stories, left-wing bias, shockingly dumb analysis….
5. Zucker Doesn’t Appear to Care About Ratings
After more than a year running CNN, it is obvious that Zucker doen’t care about improving CNN’s ratings –which were at or near record lows when he took over and have hardly improved. In some cases the ratings are worse. But Zucker won’t switch gears … because he doesn’t want to.
Zucker is only doubling down on the same dishonest left-wing political agendizing that got CNN in trouble in the first place.
Zucker might also be softening the network up for a sale.