WATCH: Cheri Jacobus on CNN’s Jeff Zucker: ‘It’s cringe-worthy’

TV pundit, writer & producer Cheri Jacobus is one of my very favorite Twitter people. She suffers no fools and is never afraid to spill tea.

This 2-minute clip from John Melendez’s podcast has Cheri dropping all sorts of truth cluster-bombs on CNN’s Jeff Zucker and how he runs the storied news network.

“Trump is like a drug to these networks,” she said. “When you have an entertainment guy running a news network that’s a bad combination when you put his pal Trump up there. That’s what happened to CNN. They have some of the best journalists in the business; I’m a huge fan on their on-air talent.

“It’s cringe-worthy.”

CBS Corp’s now-resigned CEO Les Moonves is in the same category with Zucker—except we don’t have clips of Zucker bragging about how great Trump is for the bottom line, as I outlined in my post at the time.

CrankyYank Vol. 10: Moonves is Money | Oscar’s Dumpster Fire | Religious Oppression & More

Jacobus continues: “Zucker rewards shows that turn into Jerry Springer,” she says. “When you have Kayleigh McEnany sitting next to David Gergen as if they’re colleagues and she’s sitting there wearing that pleather mini-dress, I’m sorry, that’s just ridiculous. Zucker created Kayleigh; she wasn’t pro tRUmp and they needed someone who was. In his own words Zucker said ‘I’m creating characters in a drama’. this is so inappropriate for a news organization, and look where it got us. Look where we are today.”

The Fourth Estate is Dead. 7 Ways Political Media Failed—and How to Fix It [UPDATED]

I don’t know how we reform the politics-as-entertainment conundrum but something has got to be done. My Fourth Estate post has some ideas, in case you’re curious.

Follow Cheri Jacobus on Twitter and see her “America Reads the Mueller Report“. And remember don’t call Kayleigh “Keelie” on Twitter; she hates that. 🔴

 

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Will Pollock is a perpetually cranky New York City escapee based in Midtown Atlanta. He’s a freelance multimedia journalist and author of two books (the award-winning Pizza for Good & Leaving Triscuit), with more on the way.

In 2001, Will earned his Masters from The Medill School of Journalism, graduating with highest honors from the magazine sequence. As permanent member of Journalism’s National Honors Society, he’s been active in monitoring, writing and blogging about media and journalism ever since he graduated.

Obsessed with good storytelling and journalistic excellence, Will uses snark, humor and reason to distill dumb shit and make it fun. He is a seeker/maker of non-consensus news, and helps you cure your crankies by finding the nut in every story.

As for-profit media and news outlets continue to fail us, it’s more important than ever to find reliable sources. Authentic storytelling exists—you just have to look for it. On this blog you’ll get ideas, not ideology. Sass with class. Reporting with rapport. Evidence with a touch of evil. You get the idea.

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