Network news chiefs getting their marching orders about the East Wing from the West Wing?

[bigtree]

The Daily Beast @thedailybeast 5h
CNN chief Mark Thompson reportedly told the cable network’s reporters to ease up on coverage of the demolition of the White House’s East Wing after a visit to the White House.

___Although denied by CNN, the report from the Status newsletter appears to be the latest example of media bosses bending the knee before the Trump administration.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/cnn-boss-mark-thompson-told-reporters-to-ease-up-on-teardown-coverage-after-white-house-visit/





___On Wednesday, as Donald Trump tore down the East Wing to build his ballroom, the White House had a visitor who raised eyebrows across Washington. CNN chief Mark Thompson made a rare appearance at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., according to multiple people familiar with the matter.

The meeting was ostensibly about introducing to the administration the network’s new direct-to-consumer streaming product launching next week, laying the groundwork for officials to appear on CNN, a person familiar with the matter told Status. But given the swirl of speculation surrounding the cable network, with parent company Warner Bros. Discovery having publicly put itself up for auction, the question of Donald Trump’s animosity toward CNN, and how that might manifest itself in the process, is very much on people’s minds.

The meeting could certainly have been regular business, as news networks have a vested interest in maintaining a relationship with the administration for coverage access. But people close to the situation say Thompson and WBD chief David Zaslav believe it is very important for CNN to have a functional relationship with the White House, and CNN anchor Jake Tapper—who recently conducted an interview with Trump via text message—has been lobbying for an interview with the president.

Still, staffers were taken aback the next morning, when Thompson suggested during the daily network editorial call that it should ease up on covering Trump’s East Wing demolition, claiming that their viewership isn’t all that interested in the story, according to two people familiar with the matter. The comment struck many as bizarre coming from Thompson, who despite carrying the editor in chief title generally tends not to wade too much into the minutiae of the network’s editorial process. “There is zero truth to this conjecture,” a CNN spokesperson told Status in a statement after this story was published.
https://www.status.news/p/mark-thompson-cnn-white-house-east-wing-demolition

[Silent Type]

1. Good. The East Wing is the least of our problems right now, though it is certainly symbolic of our plight.

[bigtree]

2. you missed the substance aiming for the heading

...there's little justification for CNN or any other network news source to stifle their coverage of this, especially given the paucity of pushback against Trump for anything at CNN (and many of the others) that I guess you're supposing will replace this.

Such a posture is nothing new for Zaslav, who said at a 2023 media conference—before Trump’s reelection—that “Republicans are back on the air” at CNN, adding that the network would become less of an “advocacy outlet” under new management.

A Thompson confidant told Status that the White House visit didn’t come entirely as a surprise, as the network boss has made clear that it is building its streaming service with a “big tent approach” to programming, trying to reach all sides. While streaming could serve as another conduit to the administration, the new venture’s prospects are clouded by the broader uncertainty regarding WBD, after a previous foray into that realm, CNN+, was an early casualty of the merger.

Trump has scarcely concealed his willingness to use the regulatory process in an effort to secure more favorable coverage, while seeking to extract financial concessions from news organizations that he contends have been “unfair” to him. While CNN is just a small part of WBD, the news operation looms large in the context of the studio’s future ownership.

https://www.status.news/p/mark-thompson-cnn-white-house-east-wing-demolition

[Silent Type]

3. We need to concentrate on ACA subsidies, PAYGO Waiver to avoid 4% Medicare cut in 2026, winning midterms, etc.

East Wing is gone. Those who think it's awful will remember in elections. Those that applaud trump for doing stuff without regard to slow committees, tradition, etc., will vote for their "action man."

I'm glad CNN is moving on. Much prefer these headlines to East Wing.

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And muchmore.

[bigtree]

4. we won't have the ability to legislate ACA if we lose the democracy

...see how that works?

[Hekate]

5. I think

Some people lose the plot awfully quickly.

[SamuelTheThird]

6. Symbolism is important

Sometimes symbolism is`the catalyst for change that even material conditions can't accomplish

[Silent Type]

7. Winning Midterms will do more to maintaining democracy than whining about East Wing. IMO

[Hekate]

8. Talking about the destruction of the White House is NOT "whining"

[Silent Type]

9. It is in my opinion when people are starving, without food, immigrants are being deported, etc. But carry on.

[Hekate]

10. Walk and chew gum, walk and chew gum