A different take on CNN. It's not claiming to be MSNBC. [View all]

[LAS14]

Watching the exchanges here about John Harwood, I'm struck by the assumption that CNN OUGHT to be like MSNBC, a left-leaning outlet. I must confess that I've been irritated now and again by CNN's blatant left leaning opinion people. If an outlet purports to be neutral, I don't want it to sound like MSNBC. I want it to sound more like PBS.

I LOVE MSNBC. They make no bones about their identity, and their opinions jibe with mine.

But a democracy requires that there be some news outlets that actually do not take sides.

NOTE! IMPORTANT! I'm not advocating both-sides-ism. I've been so relieved to find newcasters on virtually all the outlets I watch rigidly adhere to the principle of identifying claims of election fraud, or stolen elections as NOT TRUE. Or A LIE. Thank God they learned something after the Hillary debacle.

If this statement at https://www.axios.com/2022/09/02/john-harwood-leaving-cnn turns out to be accurate, I'm OK with it.

Chris Licht, CNN's new CEO, has made changes to curb the alarmist tone of CNN’s coverage, including cutting back on the use of breaking news banners.
Axios reported that Licht has been evaluating whether personalities and programming that grew polarizing during the Trump era could remain a good fit for the network.

Bottom line. CNN is not MSNBC, and I would prefer that the two outlets be different.