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Numerous Media Movements As the Industry Continues to Shift, and CNN Convicts Trump Without a Trial

Brad Slager
Brad Slager  |  Jan 14, 2025
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Low-Octane Gaslighting – CNN

  • A trial? Due process? These are not important elements at the network, it would appear.

Given the way the Jack Smith lawfare effort against Donald Trump has been blasted into confetti, the humiliated legal attack dog got one last parting shot on the president-elect with the release today of his report from his failed trial. The man who saw much of his case unravel when he was found to have compromised his own evidence, released a boastful report that CNN’s John Brennan read and made some heavy proclamations as a result.

That Jack Smith completely upended his own case, never brought his charges to trial, and of course, never saw a jury – let alone ever received a judgment – is something that CNN’s John Brennan appears unbothered by. He declares, in echoing Smith, that Trump has not been convicted only because he won the election. A lack of actual legal process is not a consideration for Brennan.

Reporting on the Mirror – MSNBC

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  • Getting out as the walls are collapsing is probably a smart move.

The latest news is that the president of MSNBC, Rashida Jones, is stepping away from her leadership of the network after a four-year career. In an internal memo today, she announced her immediate departure.

Jones leaves a network that is still eroding in the ratings, faces a defamation lawsuit, and is performing poorly enough that parent company Comcast is spinning off its cable channel division.

Reporting on the Mirror – MSNBC

  • It almost seems unfair to expat the highest-paid pundit to put in a full week’s worth of work! 

In another sign of how much the network is struggling, it has been reported that MSNBC has stated that its most popular – and expensive – news hostess, Rachel Maddow, needs to go back to a full schedule.

We recently saw where the bonus baby had to take a pay cut, but still draws a $25 million annual salary, for being on the air only Monday evenings. Now, the network, starving for viewers, wants the highest-ratings earner to earn her paycheck and go back to a five-night schedule. Meanwhile, her replacement, Alex Wagner, is unceremoniously moved to the duty of reporting on the road for Trump’s first 100 days and is no longer seen in primetime.

Reporting on the Mirror – NBC NEWS

  • Will people even notice the departure of Chuckles? 

In more media movement, longtime network newsman and just-as-longtime Democratic sympathizer Chuck Todd announced he is leaving the network to explore other opportunities.

He was replaced on the venerable Sunday program “Meet the Press,” and then was summarily taken down from his daily version on MSNBC, sent out to pasture on the network’s little-seen streaming channel. He is said to be speaking with other media outlets about possible work once his contract expires.

Demo-lition Project – WASHINGTON POST

  • The new leadership will basically be taking over the New York Jets of journalism.

Things have been bad at WaPo for years, and there is no slowing down of the problems. The latest issue was a lack of an endorsement for president, which led to a staff walkout and the loss of many subscribers. The paper that boldly states “Democracy Dies in Darkness” is apparently dying right out in the open.

Semafor details that it has seen the internal traffic numbers and the outlet has dropped 90% since a high in 2021.

First Amendment Strike Force – THE ATLANTIC

  • The “Journalists For Censorship” movement is still going strong.

Add David Frum as another unsurprising name to the list of media figures losing their composure over the decision to eliminate the fact-checkers from social media.

Frum pines for the old days when certain topics were policed, certain accounts targeted, and the smothering of free expression was cheered by those in the industry that relies on free expression.

Frum, in that bygone era, was a practitioner of the practice of insisting false information was accurate, and thus approved.