CNN commentator lobbied for Norfolk Southern; the network didn't tell its audience during East Pales

[GGoss]

CNN commentator lobbied for Norfolk Southern; the network didn’t tell its audience during East Palestine discussion - MediaMatters

CNN’s State of the Union and host Dana Bash held a Sunday roundtable discussion about the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment featuring CNN political commentator David Urban, who said that “there's plenty of blame to go around on this” and pivoted to criticizing the Biden administration. CNN never disclosed or asked Urban about his work for Norfolk Southern, which paid him and his then-lobbying firm over a million dollars.

Urban was until 2020 the president of the lobbying firm American Continental Group, where he lobbied for Norfolk Southern on “transportation issues related to railways” starting in 2009, according to federal disclosure forms. He and his firm collected at least $1,140,000, according to a calculation of federal data by ProPublica.

The Republican commentator is now the managing director for BGR Group, a leading lobbying firm that presents countless conflicts of interest for his on-air work. In its most recent lobbying quarter, BGR has continued to lobby on transportation issues. Its website also states: “Our clients in the aviation, automotive, rail, shipping and mass transit industries rely on BGR to educate political leaders about how vital these industries are to domestic and international commerce.”

Urban also played a key role in the election of former President Donald Trump, who weakened safety regulations in the rail industry.

Link: https://www.mediamatters.org/cnn/cnn-commentator-lobbied-norfolk-southern-network-didnt-tell-its-audience-during-east-palestine

[NNadir]

1. This is a pretty big deal! n/t.

[UpInArms]

2. Why is this POS a "commentator"?

Double dipping assfuck

[montanacowboy]

3. Fuck CNN

don't watch that garbage anymore

[bullwinkle428]

4. Fucking Chris Licht. Keith Olbermann had this guy nailed

for the right-wing lackey he is, when they made the announcement Licht was taking over operations at CNN.

[Celerity]

5. Flashback: CNN Staff Fears Right-Wing Billionaire Will Turn It Into a Dumpster Fire

In this week’s edition of Confider, we look at how CNN’s shock firing of Brian Stelter has stoked internal fears centered around one libertarian billionaire board member.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/cnn-staff-fears-right-wing-billionaire-john-malone-will-turn-it-into-a-dumpster-fire



The fallout from the firing of Brian Stelter and the cancellation of Reliable Sources continues this week. CNN insiders tell Confider that staffers cannot shake the feeling the shocking move was made to appease John Malone, a right-leaning billionaire, close friend of the Murdoch family, and key Warner Bros. Discovery board member who has made it well-known that he would like CNN to be more “centrist”—whatever that means.

While Malone has denied he is “directly involved” in any decisions about CNN, multiple current and former staffers who spoke to us relayed a fear that the libertarian mogul is indirectly dictating an agenda to newly installed CNN boss Chris Licht. Sources further suggested that internal fears about future changes stem from how Licht has kept his cards close to his chest, with members of his own management team being left in the dark about next moves.

The news of Stelter’s axing was actually supposed to be announced Friday with a carefully managed story placed with NPR, sources told Confider, but the news leaked early, including—perhaps curiously—to two conservative outlets, the Daily Mail and the Tucker Carlson-founded Daily Caller, which were both tipped off on Thursday morning. Stelter had been an antagonist of right-wing media for much of his time at the Reliable Sources desk, but other similarly vocal CNN stars like Don Lemon and Jim Acosta are safe for now, sources familiar with the matter told Confider.

Instead, these insiders said, Licht will next turn his attention to “blowing up” CNN’s ratings-challenged morning show New Day, having brought on his old buddy Ryan Kadro from CBS to help rework it. Nevertheless, staffers fear further cutbacks and more layoffs as Licht, who has told friends he speaks to David Zaslav on a daily basis, seemingly carries out the Warner Bros. Discovery CEO and his board’s wishes to make CNN less controversial and, in the words of several current and former CNN staffers, “more vanilla.”

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