Megyn Kelly says CNN has gone from ‘most trusted’ to ‘most pathetic’ news brand

Conservative pundit and podcast host Megyn Kelly slammed CNN on Wednesday as the network plunged further into a state of chaos with the sudden departure of chief honcho Chris Licht.

It’s no secret that the network, once hailed as the “most trusted name in the news,” has endured a prolonged and tumultuous period of leadership and staff turnover, in addition to low ratings. .

Last year Chris Licht was named CEO and President of CNN Global, following the surprise ouster of Jeff Zucker, by Warner-Discovery CEO David Zaslav, whose mission is to right the ship at CNN bringing the network back to the center after years of Trump. bashing and appealing exclusively to a left-leaning audience.

‘Chris Licht tried to undo that bias, but with the same anchors – and the same audience – who were already addicted to Donald Trump’s hate crack. No wonder it didn’t work out and the channel notes are now down the toilet,’ Kelly said on the podcast.

Chris Licht was kicked out of CNN a year after being selected by David Zaslav to lead the company through a period of significant change

Licht’s year-long reign came to an end on Wednesday following an embarrassing profile in The Atlantic, as well as a series of internal incidents, including the public avalanche that led to the anchor’s sacking. Don Lemon, and more recently, a town hall with former President Donald Trump whose network staff were upset.

Licht’s dismissal, which Page Six said surprised the CEO, left many, including Kelly, wondering, “Can someone turn CNN around?”

Kelly described to his audience many of the significant issues currently facing CNN and suggested that Licht’s failure to thrive was the result of weak leadership.

“Licht has not inspired, as far as I know, anyone,” she said.

“He arrived with a lot of bluster on the heels of a beloved leader who was quickly ousted. Yes, Jeff Zucker was loved, biased and responsible for bringing down the network, but he was loved.’

Kelly went on to say that Zucker “he sacrificed CNN’s appeal to his centrist audience” by spending the Trump years encouraging reporters and hosts to disparage the president, his administration and his supporters, and crowned him by years of sensationalized COVID coverage.

‘ Jim Acosta and his massive ego… Brianna Keilar and her sneering cover of all things Trump, Alison Camerota and her sarcastic judgements, Christian Amanpour and her smug elitism, even once benign anchors like Anderson Cooper and Wolf Blitzer are now more associated to ‘resistance’ than with hard-line news journalism,” Kelly said, specifically calling out a few of the network’s personalities.

These changes, Kelly says, are responsible for the network’s current inability to attract a centrist audience to its channel: “CNN has lost the trust of its once large audience. Her brand changed from “most trusted” to “most pathetic,” she said.

Explaining the ideological model currently struggling to take off at CNN, Kelly said: ‘Discovery Time Warner bought this asset wanting to make it fairer, less biased, less hateful towards Republicans and the right but not dismissive towards the left either.

Kelly called on Warner-Discovery CEO David Zaslav (pictured) to follow the lead of another business leader: ‘If I were David Zaslav I’d be shooting an Elon Musk. I would fire a lot of people, on and off ‘

Licht was ousted on Wednesday following a series of unfortunate incidents, including an embarrassing Atlantic profile, a Trump town hall disapproved of by staff and the public failure of CNN This Morning, which led to Don Lemon’s firing.

‘That will take time. A lot. Zaslav seems to know that in March he addressed the CNN newsroom, acknowledging what Zucker had done, that he had become a supporter and although it got more viewers, Zaslav reportedly said, “This isn’t what I came here to do,” even saying as they turned that ship around, “odds be damned.”

She further explained that Licht’s Herculean task of straightening out CNN’s newsroom failed for a number of reasons, including trying to change the network’s voice while using the same messengers.

‘Chris Licht tried to undo that bias, but with the same anchors – and the same audience – who were already addicted to Donald Trump’s hate crack. No wonder it didn’t work out and the channel notes are now in the toilet,” she said.

“The workforce also needs to be changed. The ones that cost the network its reputation in the first place. The far-left producers who decide on online content and CNN shows. Their influence is huge and extraordinarily damaging to the brand.

“If I were David Zaslav, I’d pull an Elon Musk. I’d fire a lot of people, on and off the air. Anyone whose opinions didn’t align with the new unbiased news mission would get a severance package and be doorstep.

“The presenters and reporters who have alienated the viewers you are trying to win back need to go. Firing Don Lemon, Chris Cuomo and Brian Stelter was a start, but I’m afraid the issue has gone far beyond that and you have to say goodbye to even more talent and a lot behind the scenes,’ a she said, adding that she has “nothing personal against these people”, however, “they sacrificed their credibility during the Trump era and there is a price to pay for that”. It’s the only way to go.

The straw that broke the camel’s back for Licht was this Atlantic profile published over the weekend in which Licht made disparaging remarks about network coverage before taking over.

The incidents that led to Licht’s ousting were long, but the final blows were explosive and devastating for both the network and the executive.

The Atlantic’s profile, which was published late last week, spelled out his failures with such shocking precision that training him to remain CEO has become an impossibility.

CNN sources told DailyMail.com that Licht was devastated by the article, which he enthusiastically participated in with Zaslav’s blessing.

“He knew he was on the chopping block now,” a source said.

Licht has been cooperating with The Atlantic since November for its profile piece.; He provided extraordinary access not only to himself, but also to hosts, studios and staff.

In the 15,000-word article, he spoke disparagingly of network staff and how they had covered topics before he arrived.

Imitating their approach, he said: ‘COVID, COVID, COVID! Look at the case numbers! Look at this! Look at this!”

‘[There was] No context. And, you know, the kind of shame. And then people came out and said, “This is not my life. This is not my reality.

“You’re just saying that because you need the ratings, you need the clicks. I don’t trust you.”

The executive, who previously produced Stephen Colbert’s late-night show, said Trump “played them” and under his tenure would be different.

“The media have absolutely, I believe, learned their lesson. I think they know he’s playing them – at least the people in my organization. We have had discussions about this. We know we’re being played, so we’re going to resist,” he said.

He also made self-congratulatory comments about his own life and lifestyle, calling himself an “f****g machine” for losing 50 pounds by skipping meals.

He brought The Atlantic reporter with him to his celebrity gym and bragged, “Zucker couldn’t do that” after a workout. DailyMail.com revealed that he actually bragged about taking Ozempic as early as 2021.

There were also damning anecdotes from staff members of Licht’s coldness and selflessness.

Some described how he sat at a holiday party in Washington DC scrolling through his phone, reading news stories about himself, rather than engaging with those around him.

By March, staff had begun to wonder “not just where their boss was”, but “what he was doing”, but according to the profile, Licht did not believe their anxiety. He defended plummeting ratings and claimed his boss told him ratings mattered less than “reputation”.

In recent days, viewership numbers have followed the more conservative and significantly less well-established and less well-funded Newsmax.

“CNN, for Warner Bros. Discovery, is a reputation asset. My boss thinks strong CNN is good for the world and important for the wallet.

Licht apologized to staff for the Atlantic profile during a morning call earlier this week: “This experience has been extremely humbling. And to those whose trust I have lost, I will fight like hell to win it back,” he said.

But on Tuesday it was all over.