CNN Loses Even More Ground

Following the town hall, Darcy's "Reliable Sources" newsletter covered the reactions to the town hall extensively. Amid numerous reactions across news outlets, he included this nugget about internal strife:

Throughout the day, in fact, we heard from dozens of network staffers — ranging in seniority and positions across the organization — who all expressed dismay by what they saw transpire on their television screens.

This led to Darcy being called to the carpet in Chris Licht's office, where he was lectured by the network boss. One source says Licht also received a number of contacts from CNN workers upset with Darcy's take on the matter, with the CEO having to tell Darcy to refrain from getting that emotional. 

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Now speculation seeps out that it is possible Darcy is in the crosshairs.

This is from my Discovery source back in February about Dom Lemon. Spoke to them this weekend. They said the “atmosphere is the same this time for Oliver Darcy’s long term future” at CNN. https://t.co/rQqlAybcpz

— Jon Nicosia (@NewsPolitics) May 14, 2023

Demo-lition Project – CNN

• Usually, fallout takes a BIT longer to happen…

On a recent episode of "The Lie-Able Sources Podcast," I covered the loss of audience share seen at Fox since they dispatched Tucker Carlson. While his time slot has been severely cut down, Fox still maintains top positions, albeit with a significantly smaller viewership. But I also noted that while Newsmax was enjoying an influx of Fox viewers, CNN was not enjoying any benefit. In fact, they had slid even further down the cable news chart, with its top program ranking out of the top 40.

Last week's visit from Donald Trump saw CNN winning the night, but almost immediately, there was a backlash, as regular viewers were incensed by the event. Anderson Cooper did not help the matter, trying to make excuses for his outlet while essentially saying, "I don't blame you if you leave."

Well…

It turns out many took Cooper up on his offer. On Friday, the primetime ratings showed that CNN actually came in behind Newsmax for the night. Yikes.

BREAKING: NEWSMAX smashes CNN in prime time ratings! Read more: https://t.co/XKw2LQ3gy1 pic.twitter.com/fHrBDytNa3

— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) May 16, 2023

News Avoidance Syndrome – ASSOCIATED PRESS

• No need to look into the matter; they know what is not in there already.

As I listed in a previous article, the Durham report proved the numerous ways the Russian collusion investigation fraud involved the press from the very beginning. It is for that reason that any outlet that was enthusiastically playing along with this years-long hoax cannot be expected to deliver a sober assessment of this final report. 

As a case study, the AP delivers this dose of delusion, incapable of admitting the findings, insisting nothing was found, and not even bothering to use "Durham Investigation" in the introduction, fearing it might actually tempt people to read. It is a place marker story at best, made to simply be able able to say that, yes, they reported on the release of the report.

Barely.

BREAKING: A special prosecutor has ended his four-year investigation into possible FBI misconduct in its probe of ties between Russia and Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign. The report fell short of Trump’s prediction he would uncover the “crime of the century.” https://t.co/sOm17yjHPJ

— The Associated Press (@AP) May 15, 2023

Low Octane Gas Lighting – MSNBC

• At this point, the ones they are really striving to convince are themselves.

Right away, Nicolle Wallace was taking on a losing proposition when she invited Andrew Weissmann to come on "Deadline: White House" to discuss the Durham report. Weissmann has already invalidated himself for his shameful work with the Mueller report, becoming incapable of nailing Trump, so his assessment here that the report has nothing in it is as useless as a carving knife at a PETA salad cookout.

No better is Nicolle, who tries to recast the report about the Russian collusion hoax as simply a case of going down a rabbit hole; that's her conclusion, the case that proved collusion was nothing but a conspiracy is itself a conspiracy theory. Then she tries to say that Paul Manafort and Roger Stone receiving convictions proved something, though their charges did not involve the Trump campaign – you know, the entire purpose of the initial investigation?

.@NicolleDWallace: "Durham's whole thing is a rabbit hole conspiracy theory" pic.twitter.com/DBkYF52VWj

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) May 15, 2023

Gilded Reframe – THE DISPATCH

• Holding a journalist accountable for their opinion is completely unseemly.

Jonah Goldberg is getting upset, gang. After the Durham report, a number of people have been bringing up a past video clip of him weighing in on the collusion issue and comparing Trump and former FBI Director James Comey, something that looks uniquely bad with the new revelations laid bare.

.@JonahNRO: "If it's a contest between James Comey's credibility and Donald Trump's credibility," Comey wins "10 out of 10 times." pic.twitter.com/BemZww1hya

— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) June 4, 2017

Where Jonah is wrong from the start is that he sets this up as an either/or scenario, presenting it as a contest between the two as to who has the credibility. No, Jonah, it is entirely possible for them to both be disreputable individuals. He also tries to say today that even if Comey has shown to be in the wrong today, Trump is far more in the wrong…and…that somehow excuses Comey's actions?

But the best is Goldberg trying to dismiss this video outright because it is a clip from 2017. That age does not make the comments invalid today, it means that you have been wrong for six years.

A whole bunch of tiresome pests are going nuts over a clip of me in -- 2017! -- saying I'll take Comey's word over Trump's 10 time out of 10. I agree that Comey looks much worse now then back then. But I think I was justified in saying it then, given what was known, and given…

— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) May 16, 2023

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