Election 2016 and the Collapse of Journalistic Standards

[duffyduff]

We need to tell the truth here and stop blaming others for what is clearly journalistic malpractice and was from the minute Donald Trump announced.

If Hitler had had Jeff Zucker and CNN, he'e have ruled the world:

 If only… Under Jeff Zucker, CNN has come to symbolize the collapse of journalistic standards, sacrificing its credibility daily in pursuit of high ratings and ad revenue. Zucker recently went into high dudgeon when hacked e-mails released by WikiLeaks suggested that Democratic National Committee interim chair Donna Brazile, a CNN consultant, had leaked several questions in a Democratic primary debate to Hillary Clinton’s campaign. He called these actions “disgusting” and “unethical” and severed the network’s relationship with Brazile. OK, but it was Zucker who masterminded CNN’s hiring of Corey Lewandowski shortly after he physically assaulted a female reporter and was fired as Trump’s campaign manager. Bound by a nondisclosure and nondisparagement agreement with his former employer, CNN’s new contributor was still being paid by Trump and, according to The New York Times, secretly advising him. All this would make it impossible for Lewandowski to offer his honest opinion on anything save the time and weather. Yet Zucker couldn’t have cared less. “It’s really important to have voices on CNN who are supportive of the Republican nominee,” he explained. To which CNN media correspondent Brian Stelter delicately responded: “Television-wise, producer-wise, this makes perfect sense…. Journalistically, there are questions.”

https://www.thenation.com/article/television-fail/


Jeff Zucker and CNN literally CREATED Donald Trump the candidate. He was a joke candidate like Pat Paulsen was until Zucker and company got into the act.

They did it for ratings and ad revenue.

From the Washington Post a month ago:

It was Zucker, after all, who as the new head of NBC Entertainment gave Trump his start in reality TV with “The Apprentice” and then milked the real estate developer’s uncanny knack for success for all it was worth in ratings and profits.

“The show was built as a virtually nonstop advertisement for the Trump empire and lifestyle,” according to the book “Trump Revealed,” by Washington Post journalists Marc Fisher and Michael Kranish.

And it succeeded wildly — boosting the network’s ratings, as well as Zucker’s meteoric career. In turn, under Zucker, the show gave rise to “Celebrity Apprentice,” another Trump extravaganza. And, in turn, Zucker became the head of NBC overall.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/jeff-zuckers-singular-role-in-promoting-donald-trumps-rise/2016/10/02/7c3d4366-865b-11e6-a3ef-f35afb41797f_story.html

Hillary Clinton had to go because she wasn't good for their bottom line. THIS is why there was shameless promotion of Donald Trump, and it undermined voters' right to make an informed choice.

Jeff Zucker belongs in Florence ADX for treason against the United States, not continue to make millions of dollars as a media exec.

[kimbutgar]

1. I can no longer watch cable news - the traitors violated their 1st amendment duties

The ratings and profits were more important to them, then our country.

F them and this is one household who don't be contributing to their ratings. Only news is free speech tv and my local tv channel news.

[LenaBaby61]

2. I can no longer watch cable news - the traitors violated their 1st amendment duties.

I really wasn't watching television/cable news before this past sham of an election. I surely won't be watching any now that 99.9% of these so-called news people and others have shown once and for all that they were in BED to get their rolling train wreck of a candidate tRump elected.

[duffyduff]

4. The GOP primary was completely unreal.

I had never, ever seen anything like it in my entire life with CNN. Every single time I turned on the television, for months on end, there Trump was, either with his speeches being broadcast in their entirety without comment or criticism, or else he was given softball interviews on almost a daily basis.

The network literally created Trump and with it the messianic cult that followed him. It is terrifying to think about it. I don't know if I will EVER recover from this. It totally boggles the mind how an unserious candidate was forced on the public and for the reasons of ad revenue and ratings.

What Zucker did was commit a crime against the United States. He undermined the election process by promoting a candidate to the exclusion of others, a blatant violation of journalistic ethics. The media are supposed to inform the public, not promote ANY candidates, let alone one to the exclusion of all others.

[Nevernose]

3. I stopped watching a while back

I don't want to live in an information bubble where I'm only ever exposed to stuff that just confirms my worldview, but I'm done with cable news and urge everyone else to quit it, too.

It's making us all dumber and unhappier. Not only do I want people to quit watching it, I want you to urge everyone else to boycott cable news, too. Let's stop rewarding these people with our advertising dollars.