Mag Pens Piece Blasting Ex-CNN Puppetmaster. His Allies Went BALLISTIC

July 27th, 2023 6:26 PM

Having published a piece in April detailing Don Lemon’s decades of insufferable behavior inside CNN, Variety’s Tatiana Siegel blew the lid Monday night off Jeff Zucker, the former CNN boss and puppetmaster whose allies engaged in a blatant smear campaign against his replacement, Chris Licht. Siegel explained how Zucker and a team of allies undermined Licht and Warner Bros. Discovery…

CNN Zuckerbots Are Reportedly Over the Moon Chris Licht Got Canned

June 15th, 2023 11:17 AM

Puck’s Dylan Byers ended last week with some scuttlebutt on his ex-employer following the axing of CNN boss Chris Licht that, as we’ve repeatedly documented (see here and here), came down to a Mean Girls-like disgust and smear campaign by the litany of CNN employees Licht and Warner Bros. Discovery head honcho David Zaslav not only failed to jettison for loyalty to former puppetmaster…

CNN Self-Sabotages with Intolerance for Opposing Points of View

June 10th, 2023 4:00 PM

This disease of woke leftism is now in the process of devouring CNN -- once considered the gold standard of just-the-facts journalism when founded by billionaire Atlanta advertising guy Ted Turner.

NewsBusters Podcast: Was CNN CEO Chris Licht Doomed from the Start?

June 7th, 2023 10:14 PM

CNN CEO Chris Licht is out. But was he ever really in? Or did his predecessor Jeff Zucker still rule the radical roost? Licht was savaged for a "non-existent vision" of restoring some balance and fairness. The Zucker camp deeply admired themselves and their ranty editorializing, confusing it with "truth" and "facts."

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Stelter On His CNN Tenure: 'We Were Advocating For The Truth'

June 7th, 2023 3:23 PM

Former CNN chief media correspondent Brian Stelter journeyed over to CNBC’s The Exchange on Wednesday to react to Chris Licht stepping down as CEO of CNN and to claim that he and others opposed to Licht’s vision were simply “advocating for the truth.” Meanwhile, in other humorous developments, CNBC.com media reporter Alex Sherman condemned Licht for killing off CNN’s “north star”: CNN…

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BREAKING: Chris Licht Is OUT at CNN After Failed, Tumultuous Stint

June 7th, 2023 9:58 AM

In news first broken Wednesday morning by former CNN media reporter Dylan Byers of Puck, embattled CNN chief executive Chris Licht is stepping down from the network and parent company Warner Bros. Discovery after a tumultuous tenure marked by his inability to have buy in from a far-left employee base still loyal to their former puppetmaster, Jeff Zucker.

CNN Boss Chris Licht’s Fatal Mistake: The Inmates Still Run the Asylum

June 6th, 2023 4:32 PM

Starting Friday with a 15,000-word tome by The Atlantic’s Tim Alberta, CNN boss Chris Licht’s legitimacy took on a deluge of water with one story after another seeking to end Licht’s tenure beset by a disastrous morning show, a lack of network cohesion, and sagging ratings. Licht was hired by Discovery head honcho David Zaslav to move CNN to the center and away from the permanent…

Everyone Point & Laugh at How Much Lefty Journos Hate Working at CNN

May 18th, 2023 12:10 PM

A former CNN media reporter, Puck News’s Dylan Byers wrote Wednesday night that CNN is currently “a seismic mess” and in a state of “depleted morale” and “overwhelming sense of frustration and resentment” with employees enraged by boss Chris Licht in general and, specifically, his decision to host a town hall with former President Trump.  The employees remain hellbent on running the asylum as…

Weasel: CNN’s Darcy Has Allies Downplay Call to Principal’s Office

May 15th, 2023 1:09 PM

Two days after Puck’s Dylan Byers reported that CNN’s Oliver Darcy was shaken by the proverbial call to the principal’s office for insubordination, Darcy defenders pushed back Sunday night and comically tried to downplay the notion that it was bad news for Darcy to have been called to CNN boss Chris Licht’s office to discuss his analysis trashing his own employer for hosting a town hall with…

Cluelessly Snobbish CNN Employees Vs. America

May 13th, 2023 4:00 PM

Instructive - very.

MRC Leaders Sound Off on Tucker Carlson, Don Lemon Being Fired

April 26th, 2023 12:04 PM

On Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning, the Media Research Center led the way in providing reaction to and instant analysis at NewsBusters, online, and on the radio about the bombshell firings of Tucker Carlson by Fox News and Don Lemon at CNN. This included three spots from MRC Founder and President Brent Bozell, NewsBusters Executive Editor Tim Graham, and NewsBusters Managing Editor Curtis…

Squeezed Lemon: Puck Hints Embattled ‘Gifted’ CNN Host Is on Thin Ice

February 23rd, 2023 12:56 PM

Puck’s Dylan Byers had a new dispatch Wednesday night on the drama inside Chris Licht’s CNN and his failing project, CNN This Morning, triggered by co-host Don Lemon’s squabbles with co-hosts and controversial comments. At the end of his nearly-2,300-word article, Byers dropped ominous news for the longtime CNN personality: one more screw-up like last week’s sexist smear of 2024 GOP…

CNN in Disarray: Lemon’s Sour Ratings, Licht Wants Barkley to Save CNN

February 10th, 2023 5:54 PM

Chris Licht’s CNN tenure has been nothing short of a disappointment. Having promised to tone down the laser focus on only a few stories a day, partisan sensationalism, and snark that dominated Jeffrey Zucker’s reign of terror, Licht implied wholesale changes were in order. Not only has he failed thus far, but the inmates remain in charge of the asylum (despite layoffs and the ushering out of…

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'On the Brink': Tucker Mocks 'Diva' Don Lemon's On-Air Meltdowns

February 9th, 2023 10:09 PM

As NewsBusters previously reported, CNN’s low-rated morning host Don Lemon has a history of on-air outbursts and privately berating his co-hosts for interrupting him. On Thursday night, Fox News host Tucker Carlson got in on the fun by mocking “diva Don Lemon” for his apparent fragile mental state.