The Rose Garden and White House happenings: Listening to voters’ concerns
mtierney said:
Note :I will post the remainder of this story later today.
why? old news.
mtierney said:
Another gem from the Atlantic today…
INSIDE THE MELTDOWN AT CNN
CEO Chris Licht felt he was on a mission to restore the network’s reputation for serious journalism. How did it all go wrong?
JUNE 02, 2023
Editor’s Note: On June 7, 2023, five days after this article was published, the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery announced that Chris Licht would be leaving CNN immediately.
Updated at 11:34 a.m. ET on June 7, 2023.
“How are we gonna cover Trump? That’s not something I stay up at night thinking about,” Chris Licht told me. “It’s very simple.”
It was the fall of 2022. This was the first of many on-the-record interviews that Licht had agreed to give me, and I wanted to know how CNN’s new leader planned to deal with another Donald Trump candidacy. Until recently Licht had been producing a successful late-night comedy show. Now, just a few months into his job running one of the world’s preeminent news organizations, he claimed to have a “simple” answer to the question that might very well come to define his legacy.
“The media has absolutely, I believe, learned its lesson,” Licht said.
Sensing my surprise, he grinned.
FOLLOW THE ATLANTIC
“I really do,” Licht said. “I think they know that he’s playing them—at least, the people in my organization. We’ve had discussions about this. We know that we’re getting played, so we’re gonna resist it.”
Seven months later, in Manchester, New Hampshire, I came across Licht wearing the expression of a man who had just survived a car wreck. Normally brash and self-assured, Licht was pale, his shoulders slumped. He scanned the room with anxious eyes. Spotting me, he summoned a breezy chord. “Well,” Licht said, “that wasn’t boring!”
We were standing in the lobby of the Dana Center, on the campus of Saint Anselm College. Licht, the 51-year-old chair and CEO of CNN Worldwide, had spent the past hour and a half inside a trailer behind the building, a control room on wheels from which he’d orchestrated a CNN town hall with Trump. Licht had known the risks inherent to this occasion: Trump had spent the past six years insulting and threatening CNN, singling out the network and its journalists as “fake news” and “the enemy of the people,” rhetoric that had led to death threats, blacklists, and ultimately a severing of diplomatic ties between Trump and CNN leadership.
But that had been under the old regime. When he took the helm of CNN, in May 2022, Licht had promised a reset with Republican voters—and with their leader. He had swaggered into the job, telling his employees that the network had lost its way under former President Jeff Zucker, that their hostile approach to Trump had alienated a broader viewership that craved sober, fact-driven coverage. These assertions thrust Licht into a two-front war: fighting to win back Republicans who had written off the network while also fighting to win over his own journalists, many of whom believed that their new boss was scapegoating them to appease his new boss, David Zaslav, who’d hired Licht with a decree to move CNN toward the ideological center.
One year into the job, Licht was losing both battles. Ratings, in decline since Trump left office, had dropped to new lows. Employee morale was even worse. A feeling of dread saturated the company. Licht had accepted the position with ambitions to rehabilitate the entire news industry, telling his peers that Trump had broken the mainstream media and that his goal was to do nothing less than “save journalism.” But Licht had lost the confidence of his own newsroom. Because of this, he had come to view the prime-time event with Trump as the moment that would vindicate his pursuit of Republican viewers while proving to his employees that he possessed a revolutionary vision for their network and the broader news media.
Trump had other ideas.
For 70 minutes in Manchester, the former president overpowered CNN’s moderator, Kaitlan Collins, with a continuous blast of distortion, hyperbole, and lies. The audience of Trump devotees delighted in his aggression toward Collins, cheering him on so loudly and so purposefully that what began as a journalistic forum devolved into a WWE match before the first voter asked a question. Vince McMahon himself could not have written a juicier script: Trump was the heroic brawler—loathed by the establishment, loved by the masses—trying to reclaim a title wrongly taken from him, while Collins, standing in for the villainous elites who dared to question the protagonist’s virtue, was cast as the heel. “She’s not very nice,” Trump told the studio audience, pointing toward Collins while she stood just offstage during the first commercial break.”
Note :I will post the remainder of this story later today.
how did it all go wrong? Two corporate acquisitions of CNN's parent company later, Warner Bros Discovery is carrying a mountain of debt. David Zaslav and Chris Licht apparently thought the road to the bigger profits they desperately needed CNN to deliver was to broaden their audience. To become more "fair and balanced" and add more MAGA voices to their network. To become Fox News Lite.
it was an obviously idiotic strategy from the start. The people they thought they could bring into the audience hold CNN in complete contempt. They were never going to watch CNN. And by becoming more MAGA-friendly they turned off a lot of their core audience.
Bringing Trump's town hall live to primetime was part of that strategy.
It was evident to anyone not drinking the WBD kool-aid that CNN was pursuing a disastrous strategy. And they may never really recover from it.
ml1 posits…a little like putting the cart before the horse?
“To become more "fair and balanced" and add more MAGA voices to their network. To become Fox News Lite.
“it was an obviously idiotic strategy from the start. The people they thought they could bring into the audience hold CNN in complete contempt. They were never going to watch CNN. And by becoming more MAGA-friendly they turned off a lot of their core audience.”
The former CNN ran a private club and assumed their audience was in on it totally. Where did their scattering audience run to? Straight into the arms of Fox News
What does CNN have to do with the proverbial "Rose Garden"? Seems like the "moderator" (not the moderator) has been neglecting her job (not her job).
mtierney said:
ml1 posits…a little like putting the cart before the horse?
“To become more "fair and balanced" and add more MAGA voices to their network. To become Fox News Lite.
“it was an obviously idiotic strategy from the start. The people they thought they could bring into the audience hold CNN in complete contempt. They were never going to watch CNN. And by becoming more MAGA-friendly they turned off a lot of their core audience.”
The former CNN ran a private club and assumed their audience was in on it totally. Where did their scattering audience run to? Straight into the arms of Fox News
it's funny that you think you know anything about this topic.
I INTERRUPT THIS CONVERSATION FOR A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT……
A seasonal alert — not my photo — and the best shot of the deadly rip tide I have seen — which has already taken lives. Please share.
We just ‘swim between the flags’ here. ‘If in doubt, don’t go out’ The lifeguards will move them to avoid rips, bad surf etc. Maybe your beaches need a warning flag system?
joanne said:
We just ‘swim between the flags’ here. ‘If in doubt, don’t go out’ The lifeguards will move them to avoid rips, bad surf etc. Maybe your beaches need a warning flag system?
there is at least one spot on the Asbury Park beach that has a permanent sign warning of rip currents
Is there ever not rip currents on the NJ beaches closest to Maplewood? I have only been about 15 times or so and only once did I not feel any rip currents.
I would imagine that rip currents are 1) pretty common and 2) of varying strength. I further assume that it is the stronger rip currents that sweep people out to sea where they then drown.
You might find these simple steps helpful if you’re caught in a rip:
https://beachsafe.org.au/surf-safety/ripcurrents
Nippers are taught these, and regularly remind their families whenever they’re at the beach. (Nippers are kids in ‘junior’ lifesaving clubs)
Loved walking into elementary school under that flag. By far the best of the lot : )
On another thread, discussing Trump resembles a teenager with acne — an irresistible temptation, thus given a TDS diagnosis.
Sample from The Times today..
I would agree that there is too much coverage of Trump. He feeds off of attention. Absent the attention, he would shrivel up into a loathsome old toad.
That's been a problem since long before @mtierney started with her incessant bleating about TDS.
On the other hand, it isn't everyday in the U.S. that a former president is indicted.
tjohn said:
On the other hand, it isn't everyday in the U.S. that a former president is indicted.
It is kind of a big deal.
Today's NYT is obviously yesterday's news. In fact except for the "Violence from Trump supporters was rhetorical" story all of these were filed yesterday, one day after the arraignment and subsequent "confession rally" in Bedminster. It might be better if these were sort of lumped into some kind of mega-article, but that's obviously not how the Times rolls.
Read an interesting article in Reason today I thought I'd post here about immigration, based on a new report from the Cato Institute. One of the reasons we have such a problem with undocumented immigrants is that it's actually really hard to come here legally.
From the article:
Today's legal immigration system is drastically different than what it was historically. Post-independence, the U.S. took a broadly liberal approach to welcoming newcomers. "Even when it finally adopted some rules in the late 19th century, immigrants were presumed eligible for permanent residence unless the government showed that they fell into specific and usually narrow ineligible categories," writes Bier.
Now, would-be migrants have to prove their eligibility based on strict prerequisites that vanishingly few can fulfill. That shift hasn't reduced demand for migration pathways—it's just created a black market, much like other forms of prohibition. Rather than looking to a sensible, straightforward, and sanctioned visa application process, migrants of many stripes look to smugglers and illegal entry to reach American soil. This has made their journeys far more dangerous (and, in many cases, deadly).
Bier suggests some reforms to help American employers and would-be foreign workers and reduce illegal immigration. One is the creation of "a streamlined work visa program for year-round, lesser-skilled workers." Another is the repeal of "overall and country-based employer-sponsored caps" for visas, which can lead to unfathomable wait times, barring workers from bringing their skills to the U.S. economy.
--
When I used to hang out on UK Expats message board many moons ago, we would always get new people sign up and say they just spent a month in Florida and love America and want go move here, how do you do it? And we'd always tell them "Have $500k in investable income, or marry an American." They would argue back and forth that must be some other way, but there really isn't. There are insane roadblocks to coming here legally.
ridski said:
Read an interesting article in Reason today I thought I'd post here about immigration, based on a new report from the Cato Institute. One of the reasons we have such a problem with undocumented immigrants is that it's actually really hard to come here legally.
From the article:
Today's legal immigration system is drastically different than what it was historically. Post-independence, the U.S. took a broadly liberal approach to welcoming newcomers. "Even when it finally adopted some rules in the late 19th century, immigrants were presumed eligible for permanent residence unless the government showed that they fell into specific and usually narrow ineligible categories," writes Bier.Now, would-be migrants have to prove their eligibility based on strict prerequisites that vanishingly few can fulfill. That shift hasn't reduced demand for migration pathways—it's just created a black market, much like other forms of prohibition. Rather than looking to a sensible, straightforward, and sanctioned visa application process, migrants of many stripes look to smugglers and illegal entry to reach American soil. This has made their journeys far more dangerous (and, in many cases, deadly).Bier suggests some reforms to help American employers and would-be foreign workers and reduce illegal immigration. One is the creation of "a streamlined work visa program for year-round, lesser-skilled workers." Another is the repeal of "overall and country-based employer-sponsored caps" for visas, which can lead to unfathomable wait times, barring workers from bringing their skills to the U.S. economy.--
When I used to hang out on UK Expats message board many moons ago, we would always get new people sign up and say they just spent a month in Florida and love America and want go move here, how do you do it? And we'd always tell them "Have $500k in investable income, or marry an American." They would argue back and forth that must be some other way, but there really isn't. There are insane roadblocks to coming here legally.
and you guys are mostly white, Christian and English speaking...
Interesting - looks at all the T**** news on Fox - it's like he doesn't exist!
Trump has just been indicted on 37 felony counts and it's being covered by the paper of record? Mon Dieu!
jamie said:
Interesting - looks at all the T**** news on Fox - it's like he doesn't exist!
no wonder they think the rest of us are suffering with TDS. Never thought I would live to see republicans operating like the Russian television.
Rentals
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Another gem from the Atlantic today…
INSIDE THE MELTDOWN AT CNN
CEO Chris Licht felt he was on a mission to restore the network’s reputation for serious journalism. How did it all go wrong?
JUNE 02, 2023
Editor’s Note: On June 7, 2023, five days after this article was published, the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery announced that Chris Licht would be leaving CNN immediately.
Updated at 11:34 a.m. ET on June 7, 2023.
“How are we gonna cover Trump? That’s not something I stay up at night thinking about,” Chris Licht told me. “It’s very simple.”
It was the fall of 2022. This was the first of many on-the-record interviews that Licht had agreed to give me, and I wanted to know how CNN’s new leader planned to deal with another Donald Trump candidacy. Until recently Licht had been producing a successful late-night comedy show. Now, just a few months into his job running one of the world’s preeminent news organizations, he claimed to have a “simple” answer to the question that might very well come to define his legacy.
“The media has absolutely, I believe, learned its lesson,” Licht said.
Sensing my surprise, he grinned.
FOLLOW THE ATLANTIC
“I really do,” Licht said. “I think they know that he’s playing them—at least, the people in my organization. We’ve had discussions about this. We know that we’re getting played, so we’re gonna resist it.”
Seven months later, in Manchester, New Hampshire, I came across Licht wearing the expression of a man who had just survived a car wreck. Normally brash and self-assured, Licht was pale, his shoulders slumped. He scanned the room with anxious eyes. Spotting me, he summoned a breezy chord. “Well,” Licht said, “that wasn’t boring!”
We were standing in the lobby of the Dana Center, on the campus of Saint Anselm College. Licht, the 51-year-old chair and CEO of CNN Worldwide, had spent the past hour and a half inside a trailer behind the building, a control room on wheels from which he’d orchestrated a CNN town hall with Trump. Licht had known the risks inherent to this occasion: Trump had spent the past six years insulting and threatening CNN, singling out the network and its journalists as “fake news” and “the enemy of the people,” rhetoric that had led to death threats, blacklists, and ultimately a severing of diplomatic ties between Trump and CNN leadership.
But that had been under the old regime. When he took the helm of CNN, in May 2022, Licht had promised a reset with Republican voters—and with their leader. He had swaggered into the job, telling his employees that the network had lost its way under former President Jeff Zucker, that their hostile approach to Trump had alienated a broader viewership that craved sober, fact-driven coverage. These assertions thrust Licht into a two-front war: fighting to win back Republicans who had written off the network while also fighting to win over his own journalists, many of whom believed that their new boss was scapegoating them to appease his new boss, David Zaslav, who’d hired Licht with a decree to move CNN toward the ideological center.
One year into the job, Licht was losing both battles. Ratings, in decline since Trump left office, had dropped to new lows. Employee morale was even worse. A feeling of dread saturated the company. Licht had accepted the position with ambitions to rehabilitate the entire news industry, telling his peers that Trump had broken the mainstream media and that his goal was to do nothing less than “save journalism.” But Licht had lost the confidence of his own newsroom. Because of this, he had come to view the prime-time event with Trump as the moment that would vindicate his pursuit of Republican viewers while proving to his employees that he possessed a revolutionary vision for their network and the broader news media.
Trump had other ideas.
For 70 minutes in Manchester, the former president overpowered CNN’s moderator, Kaitlan Collins, with a continuous blast of distortion, hyperbole, and lies. The audience of Trump devotees delighted in his aggression toward Collins, cheering him on so loudly and so purposefully that what began as a journalistic forum devolved into a WWE match before the first voter asked a question. Vince McMahon himself could not have written a juicier script: Trump was the heroic brawler—loathed by the establishment, loved by the masses—trying to reclaim a title wrongly taken from him, while Collins, standing in for the villainous elites who dared to question the protagonist’s virtue, was cast as the heel. “She’s not very nice,” Trump told the studio audience, pointing toward Collins while she stood just offstage during the first commercial break.”
Note :I will post the remainder of this story later today.