Global Courant 2023-05-16 18:58:52
CNN tore up Trump’s town hall
Robby Soave, editor-in-chief of “Reason,” says “MediaBuzz”‘s left-wing criticism of CNN that Donald Trump is working is “crazy,” while it remains the journalist’s job to talk to him.
CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy defiantly continued knocking at his network’s Trump City Hall days after being berated by his boss for his “emotional” reporting.
Darcy broke his silence following his now-publicized exchange with CNN CEO Chris Licht with Monday night’s episode of the “Reliable Sources” newsletter.
In the newsletter, Darcy cited a Mediaite article highlighting CNN’s prime-time viewer dive on Friday using the staring-eyed emoticons.
CNN SAYS OLIVER DARCY IS NOT RESIGNING AFTER BEING CONSIDERED FOR TRUMP COVERAGE DESPITE A REPORT THAT HE CONSIDERED IT
However, in contrast to the Mediaite article, Darcy invoked CNN’s “widely criticized town hall” suggesting it is related to the drop in ratings.
Days after the widely criticized Town Hall with Donald Trump, CNN prime-time averaged just 335,000 total viewers on Friday, attracting a smaller audience in the 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. window than even right-wing station Newsmax. of viewership related to City Hall, it marked one rare ratings defeat,” Darcy wrote.
CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy may be on thin ice as he continues to criticize the network’s Trump City Hall despite being told by his bosses not to be “emotional.” (Screenshot/CNN)
CNN viewers have been falling off a cliff since the polarizing town hall. The ratings-challenged network drew 2.3 million prime-time viewers last Wednesday for the event that irked Darcy, but lost 77% of that audience the following night when just 538,000 prime-time viewers tuned in. of 335,000 on Friday.
He later shared the newsletter that spotlighted his employer’s shortcomings, tweeting “Still here and still going strong!”
However, it is unclear how “strong” Darcy is going, as Semafor reported earlier in the day that he had been “wondering with colleagues whether he should resign or whether he would be fired by the network”.
A CNN spokesperson told Fox News Digital “Oliver has no intention of resigning.”
Puck News first reported on Friday that Darcy had been called to a Thursday meeting with CNN’s top executives, including Licht, who confronted him about his overzealous coverage of the backlash the network had received for City Hall. While Darcy stood behind his work, the meeting left him “visibly shaken” as they “put the fear of God in him”. Fox News Digital later confirmed the reporting.
“It can’t be based on emotion, it has to be based on facts,” a source familiar with Licht’s thinking told Fox News Digital of Darcy’s coverage.
REPORTER ‘VISIBLY SHAKE’ AFTER CNN BOSS ACCUSED HIM FOR BEING ‘TOO EMOTIONAL’ IN TRUMP TOWN HALL COVERAGE
The source said Licht received a “ton” of messages from CNN staffers shocked by Darcy’s newsletter, which highlighted how CNN and Licht faced tense backlash both “internally” and externally.
The messages, according to the source, were like “what the f—.”
“I ask you not to be emotional,” the source paraphrased what Licht told Darcy at the meeting, adding that he wanted non-emotional reporting to be applied to all news outlets, not just CNN.
CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy reportedly considered resigning after an awkward conversation he had with his boss Chris Licht. (CNN/Reuters)
Hours after Trump’s town hall, Darcy joined the liberal attack on CNN, writing in his newsletter, “It’s hard to see how America was served by the spectacle of lies that aired on CNN Wednesday night.”
He complained about how Trump “lied” on various topics at City Hall, despite attempted fact-checks by CNN moderator Kaitlan Collins, but “CNN aired it all.”
It went on and on. It felt like 2016 again. It was Trump’s unhinged social media feed being brought to life onstage. And Collins was put in an awkward position as City Hall was led before a Republican audience that applauded Trump , lending a sense of inadvertent approval to his embarrassing antics,” Darcy wrote. was given to him.”
CNN’S ANDERSON COOPER DESTROYED BY LIBEREALS ABOUT ‘PATHETIC’ TRUMP TOWN HALL SPEAK: ‘HOW NEGATABLE’
Only time will tell if the tone of Darcy’s reporting will change after the scolding he received from Licht. It didn’t appear to be the case in Monday’s newsletter in which he mocked conservative responses to the Durham report confirming the baseless and politicized origins of the Trump-Russia investigation, despite Darcy’s own colleague Jake Tapper admitting it was “devastating” for the FBI and to some extent “fires” the former president.
Notably, Licht fired Darcy’s media comrade Brian Stelter and canceled CNN’s long-running “Reliable Sources” program last year. Darcy later took over the “Reliable Sources” newsletter, which had previously been written by Stelter.
CNN has faced mountain scorn from the left for hosting former President Trump for a town hall event. (Screenshot/CNN)
In the days leading up to and after City Hall, CNN was targeted by left-wing critics who blasted the network for giving Trump a platform despite his status as a GOP frontrunner in the 2024 presidential race.
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CNN anchor Anderson Cooper attempted to defend City Hall while berating both the former president and the network’s critics.
“You have every right to be outraged and angry and never look at this network again. But do you think that person will go away if you stay in your silo and only listen to people you agree with?” Cooper lectured his liberal viewers.
Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this repot.
Joseph A. Wulfsohn is a media reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected] and on Twitter: @JosephWulfsohn.
