Add CNN to the networks who are producing a Hillary Clinton movie. “CNN Films has tapped documentary filmmaker Charles H. Ferguson to direct a film about former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,” reports Dylan Byers at Politico. The film will air on CNN and be released in theaters (no word of a release date).
Like NBC News, CNN is insisting this doesn’t reflect on their editorial content. Spokeswoman Allison Gollust insisted “CNN's editorial side has no role in the production of the film, just as it has no role in any of the films produced or acquired by CNN Films.” Byers also pointed out CNN’s Jake Tapper called NBC’s film a lose-lose:
On Monday, CNN's Jake Tapper noted the editorial risks that NBC Entertainment will have to deal with over its forthcoming Hillary Clinton mini-series, calling it "a lose-lose situation editorially." The mini-series, which will star Diane Lane, will follow Clinton from the Monica Lewinsky scandal through her time as Obama's Sec. of State, Variety reported on Saturday.
"A lot of people speculating that this is going to be a puff piece, an infomercial for 2016," Tapper said on CNN. "Although there are some people on the Clinton side who remember the "Path to 9/11" mini-series in 2006 which was not particularly flattering to Bill Clinton, and a lot of people thought that was anti-Clinton. So it's a lose-lose situation editorially, but it could be a win-win for the ratings, and that's what NBC is banking on, of course."
Byers also saw a down side:
Nevertheless, the project could cause some headaches for CNN as it seeks to ensure both Clinton's opponents and her supporters that the project will have no bearing on the network's news reporting. Conservatives will likely criticize CNN for devoting so much airtime to a Democratic candidate, while the Clinton campaign is likely to take issue with the network for dedicating so much of its energy to their candidate, rather than her likely competitors.
Byers didn’t quote any conservatives in response. We would have said picking Ferguson is picking a leftist. Ferguson’s two hallowed documentaries are “No End In Sight: The American Occupation In Iraq” (2007) and “Inside Job” (2010), a takedown of the bank bailouts from the Left (narrated by Matt Damon), which won an Oscar for Best Documentary.
In a 2011 interview with The Progressive, Ferguson agreed with suggestions that Obama was a sellout for not putting Paul Krugman in charge of the economy. So perhaps his take on Hillary Clinton will be a little rough from the radical left.
