Category Archives: CNN

US news organizations urge Biden and Trump to agree to TV election debates

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CNN, NBC and Fox News among outlets to make plea as Trump campaign calls for earlier debates and Biden remains uncommitted

Twelve US news organizations are urging Joe Biden and Donald Trump to agree to TV debates ahead of the November presidential vote, a typical feature of an election year and one that can sometimes play a crucial role.

“If there is one thing Americans can agree on during this polarized time, it is that the stakes of this election are exceptionally high,” the organizations including ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News, PBS, NBC, NPR and the Associated Press said in a statement.

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CNN staff say network’s pro-Israel slant amounts to ‘journalistic malpractice’

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Insiders say pressure from the top results in credulous reporting of Israeli claims and silencing of Palestinian perspectives

CNN is facing a backlash from its own staff over editorial policies they say have led to a regurgitation of Israeli propaganda and the censoring of Palestinians perspectives in the network’s coverage of the war in Gaza.

Journalists in CNN newsrooms in the US and overseas say broadcasts have been skewed by management edicts and a story-approval process that has resulted in highly partial coverage of the Hamas massacre on 7 October and Israel’s retaliatory attack on Gaza.

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White House denounces Fox News over host’s ‘foul’ remarks on CNN pair

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Mark Levin called Wolf Blitzer and Jake Tapper ‘self-hating Jews’ on syndicated radio show, prompting furious response

For the second time in two days, the White House denounced Fox News over remarks by a host relating to the Israel-Hamas war, following condemnation of Jesse Watters’ apparent incitement of violence against Arab Americans with condemnation of Mark Levin for calling two CNN anchors “self-hating Jews”.

Andrew Bates, a spokesperson, said: “President Biden believes in an America where we come together against hate and don’t fan its flames. But not only is Fox News aligning with those who fan the flames of hate – Fox is paying their salaries.”

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Can Mark Thompson revive CNN’s struggling fortunes?

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The former BBC and New York Times chief has been tasked with revitalizing a news network that seems to have lost its way

In late summer, CNN found itself in crisis. Under the disastrous tenure of chief executive Chris Licht, the news channel had seen top anchors leave and ratings plunge.

Behind the scenes, CNN staff were grumbling about an apparent attempt to move the network’s political coverage to a rapidly disappearing center – an effort typified by the widely criticized decision to host a town hall with Donald Trump in May.

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Judge throws out Donald Trump’s $475m ‘big lie’ defamation lawsuit against CNN

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Judge Raag Singhal ruled that CNN’s words were opinion and could not be the subject of a defamation claim

A federal judge has thrown out Donald Trump’s $475m defamation lawsuit against CNN, in which the former president claimed the network’s description of his claims of election fraud as the “big lie” associated him with Adolf Hitler.

In a ruling late on Friday night, US judge Raag Singhal, who was nominated by Trump in 2019, said CNN’s words were opinion, not fact, and therefore could not be the subject of a defamation claim.

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CNN’s Trump debacle suggests TV media set to repeat mistakes of 2016

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Network’s own reporters criticise decision to give ex-president platform in ‘town hall’ format that allowed him to spout freely

Donald Trump and CNN were in rare agreement: the former president’s hour of free prime-time television on Wednesday evening, dressed up as a “town hall” with Republican voters, was a triumph.

“America was served very well by what we did last night,” CNN’s chief executive, Chris Licht, told skeptical members of his own staff at the network’s daily news conference the following morning.

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As 2024 elections near, US media grapples with how to cover Trump

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CNN’s Wednesday town hall with the ex-president could be a warning bell for cable news to not repeat mistakes from 2016

It claims to be the most trusted name in news. But on Wednesday it will devote an hour of prime time to a serial liar who sought to overthrow American democracy.

CNN’s live town hall with Donald Trump, the former US president, has been condemned by critics as a marriage of convenience: an ailing network looking to boost ratings and a disgraced 76-year-old candidate seeking rehabilitation.

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CNN ‘deeply regrets’ distress caused by report on Thailand nursery killings

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News broadcaster’s footage of building’s blood-stained floor sparked police investigation

CNN has said it deeply regrets any distress caused by its report on the nursery killings in north-east Thailand, after its footage of the building’s blood-stained floor sparked a police investigation and a debate over how the media should cover such tragedies.

The US network’s report, which has since been pulled, was condemned by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand and the Thai Journalists Association, while police launched an inquiry over allegations the crew entered the crime scene without authorisation.

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Bernard Shaw, CNN’s first chief anchor, dies of pneumonia aged 82

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Trailblazing Black news anchor chronicled iconic moments in history from Tiananmen Square to the first Gulf war

The pioneering Black cable news anchor Bernard Shaw, who became a household name in the US with the launch of CNN, has died at the age of 82 after a bout with pneumonia unrelated to Covid-19, his family said Thursday.

When CNN debuted in 1980, Shaw served as the 24/7 news channel’s first chief anchor, and spent more than 20 years there before his retirement in February 2001. He reported on some of the biggest news stories from that era, including China’s deadly quelling of the Tiananmen Square student revolt in 1989, the first Gulf war in 1991 for which he went to Baghdad to report, and the 2000 presidential election, won by George W Bush following a controversial US supreme court ruling.

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Brian Stelter rebukes CNN on final show: ‘It’s not partisan to stand up to demagogues’

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Host says, ‘It is not partisan to stand up for decency and democracy and dialogue,’ after CNN cancels media show Reliable Sources

Brian Stelter, host of CNN’s media affairs show Reliable Sources which was cancelled last week after 30 years on air, used his final episode Sunday to make a pointed rebuke of the network’s new bosses and their intention to pursue a more “neutral voice” to its coverage.

“It is not partisan to stand up for decency and democracy and dialogue,” Stelter said in his final monologue, which he stressed was unvetted by CNN management before he delivered it live. “It is not partisan to stand up to demagogues – it’s required, it’s patriotic.”

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Chris Wallace: working at Fox News became ‘unsustainable’ after election

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Journalist’s new show begins on archrival CNN’s streaming service after nearly 20 years with the right-leaning cable channel

Chris Wallace has said working at Fox News became “increasingly unsustainable” before he jumped ship to CNN last December after almost 20 years with the right-leaning cable channel.

His departure dealt a blow to Fox’s news operation at a time when its opinion side had become preeminent. The veteran journalist’s new show begins on archrival CNN’s streaming service this week and the 74-year-old spoke to the New York Times.

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Chris Cuomo seeks $125m from CNN over alleged wrongful termination

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Ex-TV host, fired after assisting brother Andrew amid sexual harassment allegations, files request for arbitration

The former CNN primetime host Chris Cuomo filed a request for arbitration on Wednesday, seeking $125m in damages for alleged wrongful termination.

The network fired Cuomo in December, following an inquiry into his efforts to help his brother, the former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, who was accused of sexual harassment.

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CNN reporter encounters Russian troops during live Kyiv dispatch – video

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Minutes after Vladimir Putin ended weeks of speculation by announcing a 'special military operation' at dawn on Thursday, explosions were heard near major Ukrainian cities, including the capital, Kyiv. According to Ukrainian officials, the initial wave of strikes appeared to involve cruise missiles, artillery and airstrikes, which struck military infrastructure and border positions, including airbases.

CNN's Matthew Chance was filmed reporting live from an airbase on the outskirts of Kyiv, where Russian airborne troops engaged in a firefight with the Ukrainian military

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Chris Cuomo accused of sexual harassment days before CNN fired him

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Lawyer says accuser came forward after New York’s AG office showed Cuomo took much more active role in helping brother

Chris Cuomo was hit with a new allegation of sexual harassment days before CNN announced it was firing him amid an investigation into work he did defending his brother from similar harassment allegations.

An attorney, Debra Katz, said on Sunday her client alleged “serious sexual misconduct” by Cuomo and had contacted CNN about the allegation on Wednesday.

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Chris Cuomo fired by CNN for helping brother Andrew fight sexual misconduct charges

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  • Primetime anchor was suspended on Tuesday
  • Network says ‘additional information’ has come to light

CNN has fired the primetime anchor Chris Cuomo for trying to help his brother, the former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, fight accusations of sexual misconduct which resulted in his resignation.

Announcing the firing on Saturday, CNN said “additional information” had come to light.

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How Chris and Andrew Cuomo’s on-air comedy routines compromised CNN

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The news network implicitly endorsed the former New York governor amid accusations of sexual harassment and corruption

For months, CNN’s primetime anchor, Chris Cuomo, refused to cover the multiple scandals surrounding his brother, the former New York governor Andrew Cuomo.

Chris Cuomo said it would be a conflict of interest for him to report on the sexual harassment, corruption and misuse of public funds his brother had been accused of. But many wondered how CNN could justify what amounted to a blackout of one of the nation’s top news stories during the news network’s most-watched time slot.

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Chris Cuomo says he advised his brother Andrew but was never an adviser

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Speaking to camera on Monday night, the CNN anchor Chris Cuomo said he had never been an adviser to his brother, the disgraced New York governor Andrew Cuomo – but had given his brother advice.

Related: Chris Cuomo’s ethical troubles at CNN highlight rise of ‘info-tainment’

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Rick Santorum axed by CNN over racist remarks on Native Americans

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  • Ex-Republican senator’s April comments prompted outrage
  • Santorum said he misspoke but did not apologize for remarks

CNN has dropped former Republican US senator Rick Santorum as a senior political commentator after racist remarks he made about Native Americans at an event in April.

News of Santorum’s termination was first reported by HuffPost. A CNN spokesperson confirmed to the Guardian that the network has parted ways with Santorum. No further comment on the firing was provided, though an anonymous CNN executive told HuffPost that “leadership wasn’t particularly satisfied with that appearance. None of the anchors wanted to book him.”

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Trump ally Nunes sees CNN Ukraine lawsuit thrown out by New York judge

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  • California congressman sought $435m in damages
  • Story linked him to hunt for Biden dirt in Ukraine

A defamation lawsuit brought against CNN by the California Republican Devin Nunes, a leading ally of former president Donald Trump, was tossed out by a Manhattan judge on Friday.

Related: Icy blast of anti-Ted Cruz outrage shows little sign of abating

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Larry King dies, Tom Brokaw retires – and the ‘heroic age’ of TV news slips further away

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Experts agree the great days of US news broadcasting are long gone, but this week still brought poignant reminders

As Tennyson – and Withnail’s Uncle Monty – had it, the old order changeth, yielding place to new. Larry King, whose death was announced on Saturday, was not the only giant of US TV news to leave the scene this week.

Related: Larry King, talk-show titan who lit up worlds of politics and showbiz

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