Where is the MSM headed in this election cycle?

Created
Wed, 22/03/2023 - 08:00
Updated
Wed, 22/03/2023 - 08:00
I’ve been wondering about this too. From what I can tell, MSNBC is maintaining its anti-Trump stance but CNN is going to do a modified Crossfire strategy with a Trump liar on one side, a DeSantis toady on another and a reporter in the middle. Think about how that goes. Puck’s Tara Palmieri and Dylan Byers discussed the possibilities today: Tara: … Beyond Fox, how do you think the rest of the networks will cover Trump and other candidates on the campaign trail? I’m not seeing a lot of Trump, while Glenn Youngkin and Mike Pence both got “town hall” events at CNN. How do they rate? And will we see more of them?  Dylan: Well, we know what MSNBC’s posture will likely be: “a pox on all their houses.” The open question—and it will be fascinating to watch—is CNN. In its new iteration under Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN has positioned itself as a nonpartisan, news-first outlet catering to Republicans and Democrats alike. And, indeed, WBD C.E.O. David Zaslav and CNN chief Chris Licht have made a very big deal about getting a lot of Republican lawmakers to come on air, to the point where it occasionally seems like the only metric by which they measure their success (it’s certainly not ratings, or revenue). I’m sure Licht sees 2024 as an opportunity to showcase New CNN’s editorial posture. But a Trump vs. DeSantis primary campaign is going to stress-test the thesis, because both these candidates have shown a penchant for demonizing the media merely for acting as fact-checkers. Licht may believe…