A Eulogy for CNN, 1980-2015

Jon Stewart from the Daily Show was an early critic of CNN's irresponsible journalism.

Professional journalists and news hounds around the world are today mourning the loss of the Cable News Network, and are extending their condolences to parents Turner Broadcasting System and Time Warner. The once-darling news agency had been suffering from lack of integrity for an undisclosed period, and finally succumbed yesterday to a severe infection of cowardice complicated by a systemic lack of integrity.

In its earliest days, CNN quickly made its mark with its fresh, incisive, and definitive news reporting. Televisions (at least those then equipped with the new-fangled “cable” technology) around the world—including official government offices and intelligence agencies—would soon be permanently tuned to its channel. The plucky young news upstart was famous for scooping some of the best reporters at the most vaunted institutions in print-journalism. Its ability to ferret out the “story underneath the story” won the grudging respect of the news industry and many intelligence services, earning regular appearances for such in the earliest Tom Clancy novels. Even major broadcast television networks paid homage; episodes in the CBS police franchise series NCIS regularly show “breaking news” from “ZNN”—a thinly disguised, “nudge nudge wink wink” tribute to the cable news station that pioneered the cable news industry.

In recent years, CNN had come under increasing critique. As noted on the New York Observer website, Daily Show comedian host and social critic John Stewart blamed CNN for creating a “contentious cable climate” in news reporting.  In the wake of CNN’s coverage of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, the mistakes in CNN’s coverage and reporting were the subject of much journalistic conversation and reflection, including that of Howard Kurtz of CNN. The plummeting fortunes of the once-vaunted news outlet found symbolic expression when the Dish Network’s contract dispute with Turner Broadcasting resulted in Dish’s decision to completely drop the Turner line—including CNN. Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen explained the decision to the LA Times, "Twenty years ago, CNN was a must-have channel, but it's not a top 10 network anymore ....”  He said there have been “few subscriber losses after the channel's removal because viewers now have plenty of sources for news.”

The deterioration of CNN went into overdrive near the end of December, 2014 and culminated by the end of the first week of the New Year.

The first critical incident occurred on 24 December 2014 in Atlanta, home of the corporate HQ for CNN.  Richard Davis, Executive Vice President of News Standards and Practices, was a guest speaker at the International Convention held by the teenagers of United Synagogue Youth, the high school youth group of Conservative Movement, Judaism’s centrist denomination. At the end of an apparently content-less and vapid presentation, he was challenged in a private conversation by Haley Nagelberg.  The New Jersey high school student wanted an explanation why a recent attack at a Jerusalem synagogue (initially mis-identified by CNN as a mosque) by Palestinians that left four rabbis dead was not labeled a terrorist attack. As Nagelberg posted on her blog, she approached Davis.

 “Okay”, I said, fully understanding the weight that the word “terrorist” carries. “But by the time it was known that it was four Israelis and two Palestinians, it was known that there were meat cleavers and stabbings involved. Why couldn’t you call it an ‘attack’?” I continued. His response? “You’ve got to be kidding me? One word? Are you brain dead?”

Davis evidently realized that the teenager had him to rights on the issue, and could only respond with an ad hominem attack. One would expect more from an adult, especially one responsible for establishing and maintaining the journalistic standards of an ostensibly important news outlet.

The second critical incident occurred on 7 January 2015 in the wake of the terrorist attack against the Parisian satirical magazine Charlie Hedbo. Interestingly and in distinction to the Har Nof synagogue attack in Jerusalem, in this case CNN had no qualms against using the term “terrorism” in their reporting. However, by mid-afternoon, senior editorial director Richard Griffiths circulated a memoproscribing the content of his reporter’s coverage.

“Although we are not at this time showing the Charlie Hebdo cartoons of the Prophet considered offensive by many Muslims, platforms are encouraged to verbally describe the cartoons in detail. This is key to understanding the nature of the attack on the magazine and the tension between free expression and respect for religion.”

The memo further required that any video coverage of protests ensure that images of the cartoons were “not clearly legible.” While CNN was not alone in their decision, this policy clearly underscored that the unflinching commitment to the story that characterized the network’s early years no longer informed the network’s culture.

The final critical incident occurred during the night of 7 January and into the start of the business day following. CNN anchor Jim Clancy took to Twitter, and turned the attack against free speech and his journalistic colleagues in Paris into an attack against Israel. While it was totally within Clancy’s rights to free speech to say what he wanted—the same journalistic value that led to his colleagues’ murders—the fact that his Twitter handle (@ClancyCNN) incorporates the company name blurs the distinction between his private voice and his professional responsibilities. To date there has been no official response from CNN to the appropriation of their brand for Clancy’s personal screed, leaving the distinct impression that through their silence the corporate leaders agree with and affirm Clancy’s personal screed.

While final arrangements for the once-mighty news outlet are still pending, some sources suggest that CNN will be able to keep their initial simply by rebranding itself as the “Craven News Network” or alternatively, the “Cowardly News Network.” Those seeking to honor the days when CNN actually delivered meaningful news can direct memorial contributions to the James W. Foley Legacy Fund. Foley was an American journalist assassinated by Islamic State terrorists in August, 2014.