Former CBS News anchor Dan Rather turned to his audience after a continuing shakeup at CNN left him in the dark.
“What is going on at CNN?” Rather asked Friday.
“It’s a serious question. There is a lot of speculation on directives and motives. What’s really going on? And is it being noticed by the audience?”
What is going on at CNN? It’s a serious question. There is a lot of speculation on directives and motives. What’s really going on? And is it being noticed by the audience?
— Dan Rather (@DanRather) September 2, 2022
The former news anchor’s bewilderment came as White House correspondent John Harwood abruptly left CNN Friday.
Hot on the heels of the cancellation of another network standby, Brian Stelter’s “Reliable Sources,” the departure hinted that something much bigger is at play in the CNN newsroom.
And while Rather was apparently having trouble piecing these shakeups together, his post was soon flooded with comments explaining it all.
Do you like what’s happening at CNN?
Although people’s explanations varied, these comments alone should make it clear to Rather that CNN is no longer embracing the rabid anti-right rhetoric that it has championed for years.
Rather may have gotten more than he bargained for as some used the shift at CNN to attack the former anchor’s own inglorious exit from the mainstream media world.
It’s called trying to be fair and balanced
You wouldn’t know what that means because you tried to interfere in a Presidential election with fake documents from Kinko’s— Vince Langman (@LangmanVince) September 3, 2022
Some others speculated the moves were to shift the network close to sane, normal news coverage.
Well, Daniel. When a news organization is having its reputation destroyed by partisan journalists and producers who are clearly in the tank for one political party, they’re forced to clean house in order to restore trust with the public.
Like when CBS fired you and Mary Mapes.
— AdamInHTownTX (Not a Biologist) (@AdamInHTownTX) September 2, 2022
To early to tell. Brian Stelter’s ousting is logical considering he was Zucker’s guy. CNN was too subjective. Getting back to 100% journalism is a worthy goal. Not sure it is sustainable though. They also could have kept Reliance Sources. Lets see how it develops.
— Hans Lombardo ???????? (@drlombardo) September 2, 2022
Not everyone likes where CNN is headed, with even more critical of the network’s apparent transformation.
Paired with the departure of outspoken leftists and a general shifting in tone, the news outlet is accused of turning into “Fox News Lite.”
CNN is destructing before our eyes.
Management clearly thinks they can rebrand and score more audience but the current path seems unlikely to increase audience:
1) the FOX audience will never trust CNN.
2) the CNN audience will learn to NOT trust CNN.
How does this help CNN?— bob cox-?? ?? ?? (@yd52) September 2, 2022
Rather might be out of the big leagues, but it looks like he’s been sufficiently brought up to speed on the transformation of CNN.
While it’s too late for Rather to right the shameful end of his own career, it appears CNN still has time left on the clock.
If the network can overcome its own past bias and fight to keep viewers, it’s entirely possible that we will see a transformed CNN in our lifetimes — a news outlet that could be more likely to spread fact than opinion.
