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CNN is not about news, it is about opinionated hosts and guests, i.e.: not journalism. Journalism is about reporting events, not interpreting them. Tell me wha

CNN is not about news, it is about opinionated hosts and guests, i.e.: not journalism. Journalism is about reporting events, not interpreting them. Tell me what happened, not what you think about it.

jiscariot 5y ago
It is actually pretty amazing how quickly they self-imploded their brand reputation the past few years, culminating with the Brian Stelter self-own where he's whining how "they" are the real journalists, not Joe Rogan.
- throwawaylinux 5y ago
  The time when they made a calculated lie and said it was illegal to possess leaked documents of the politician they were carrying water for was really sad too. There's actually countless instances of major deliberate lies and misinformation like this from CNN going back over the years. It's not a recent phenomenon.
BaseballPhysics 5y ago
First off, this has little to nothing to do with the issue of CNN+ closing, so it smells a lot like flamebait to me... but, assuming this comment was made in good faith: > Journalism is about reporting events, not interpreting them. This is a description of an idyllic fantasy world that's never existed. One can (I think reasonably) argue that the current generation of for-profit news is far more likely to spin the facts according to a predetermined agenda in their never-ending pursuit of viewership and associated profits. But journalism has never, ever, involved simply "reporting events". Just the decision as to which events to report on is an editorial decision.
- 29athrowaway 5y ago
  It is called journalistic integrity. They do not have it. Your service as a journalist is to serve as a witness for people that was not there. Not to take advantage of that situation to persuade people into believing your perspectives. Sports journalism is the only objective journalism.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
dc-programmer 5y ago
Opinionated hosts and guests is the only path to profitability for cable news. Most people read or listen to their news now; TV is for entertainment. CNN’s problem is that their “personalities” are absolute snore-fests. Fox’s bread and butter are their hosts but they are doing fine for now (cable will die eventually). In the current post-ironic zeitgeist, audiences are drawn to more transgressive discourse. But Don Lemon can’t make hot takes when his audience is Deloitte managers and urban moms (also he’s terminally unfunny). The left leaning media has become too safe and staid. I think that’s why left sympathetic people are drawn to the new “left” podcasts like Chapo Trap House
- 29athrowaway 5y ago
  Then they can call themselves political commentary, entertainment... not news. And sit in a sofa instead of a news room.
  - dc-programmer 5y ago
    They do have news segments. Every News org has news sections and opinion sections that are de-lineated. I’m not really a fan (they do have good investigative reporting sometimes) but acting like they are aberration does not make sense
    - 29athrowaway 5y ago
      It is the normalization of bad journalism. It is not more acceptable because it is normal.
      - dc-programmer 5y ago
        That’s a good point. On cable the distinction between news and opinion is definitely blurred as compared to a newspaper with a very clear editorial section

CNN is not about news, it is about opinionated hosts and guests, i.e.: not journalism. Journalism is about reporting events, not interpreting them. Tell me what happened, not what you think about it.

jiscariot 5y ago

It is actually pretty amazing how quickly they self-imploded their brand reputation the past few years, culminating with the Brian Stelter self-own where he's whining how "they" are the real journalists, not Joe Rogan.

throwawaylinux 5y ago
The time when they made a calculated lie and said it was illegal to possess leaked documents of the politician they were carrying water for was really sad too. There's actually countless instances of major deliberate lies and misinformation like this from CNN going back over the years. It's not a recent phenomenon.

BaseballPhysics 5y ago

First off, this has little to nothing to do with the issue of CNN+ closing, so it smells a lot like flamebait to me... but, assuming this comment was made in good faith: > Journalism is about reporting events, not interpreting them. This is a description of an idyllic fantasy world that's never existed. One can (I think reasonably) argue that the current generation of for-profit news is far more likely to spin the facts according to a predetermined agenda in their never-ending pursuit of viewership and associated profits. But journalism has never, ever, involved simply "reporting events". Just the decision as to which events to report on is an editorial decision.

29athrowaway 5y ago
It is called journalistic integrity. They do not have it. Your service as a journalist is to serve as a witness for people that was not there. Not to take advantage of that situation to persuade people into believing your perspectives. Sports journalism is the only objective journalism.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

dc-programmer 5y ago

Opinionated hosts and guests is the only path to profitability for cable news. Most people read or listen to their news now; TV is for entertainment. CNN’s problem is that their “personalities” are absolute snore-fests. Fox’s bread and butter are their hosts but they are doing fine for now (cable will die eventually). In the current post-ironic zeitgeist, audiences are drawn to more transgressive discourse. But Don Lemon can’t make hot takes when his audience is Deloitte managers and urban moms (also he’s terminally unfunny). The left leaning media has become too safe and staid. I think that’s why left sympathetic people are drawn to the new “left” podcasts like Chapo Trap House

29athrowaway 5y ago
Then they can call themselves political commentary, entertainment... not news. And sit in a sofa instead of a news room.
- dc-programmer 5y ago
  They do have news segments. Every News org has news sections and opinion sections that are de-lineated. I’m not really a fan (they do have good investigative reporting sometimes) but acting like they are aberration does not make sense
  - 29athrowaway 5y ago
    It is the normalization of bad journalism. It is not more acceptable because it is normal.
    - dc-programmer 5y ago
      That’s a good point. On cable the distinction between news and opinion is definitely blurred as compared to a newspaper with a very clear editorial section