So, Sarah Isgur, former Trump DOJ spokesperson, was set to begin a new job at CNN as a political editor. The reaction was met with disdain from liberals. CNN’s staffers were reportedly “demoralized” over the announcement in February. Isgur served as spokesperson to former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, so for many on the Left, she’s the embodiment of pure evil. So, with Democrats throwing a tantrum, CNN totally surrendered and reduced her role from editor to an analyst. This was reported last Friday. Apparently, some, especially those at the Democratic National Committee, was worried since Isgur would’ve had the ability to shape the network’s coverage in her initial role that’s been nuked due to apparent internal and outside pressure (via The Hill):
It’s been a great vacation but I am back on twitter! And news: I will go to CNN as a Political Analyst instead. Will start next month on air and on line. See y’all soon!
— Sarah Isgur (@whignewtons) March 8, 2019
Former Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores, who was hired last month as a political editor by CNN, will instead serve as a political analyst for the network, she announced Friday.
The role change for Flores, who previously served under former Attorney General Jeff Sessions in the Trump administration, comes after CNN faced considerable backlash from some members of the media as well as the Democratic National Committee after she was hired to help coordinate the network's 2020 political coverage.
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When reached for comment, a CNN spokesperson confirmed Flores's tweet while noting the former attorney and GOP political operative had initiated the change.
"We can confirm that when Sarah came to us and proposed her role be adjusted to a political analyst instead, we agreed and we look forward to her starting in that role," the spokesperson told The Hill in an email.
Yeah, that’s a great way to cover your…rear end there, CNN. This isn’t a satisfactory reason. First, what signal does this send to future hires at the network? You get a job offer, but then have it whittled down because you don’t want to anger…Democrats. Are you kidding me? Even The Washington Post noted that this surrender on CNN’s part was just an abject embarrassment. Were there criticisms of Isgur’s credentials? Yes. But the point is CNN made the call and they should’ve stuck with it instead of caving to the DNC on its coverage for the 2020 elections:
Among those disenchanted with Isgur’s accession to CNN was the Democratic National Committee (DNC), which managed to secure assurances from CNN that Isgur wouldn’t be involved in CNN’s work on Democratic debates. There was even a statement to that effect — from the DNC, that is: “The Democratic National Committee has sought and received assurances from CNN that the network’s new politics editor, Sarah Isgur, will not be involved in the debates that the channel hosts and moderates for the Democratic primary." That was a straight-up abdication of editorial independence.
And so was a subsequent concession, as the Daily Beast reported. Isgur would have “no editorial decision-making control over the network’s coverage of the 2020 elections,” CNN assured the DNC.
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No two journalistic embarrassments are alike. Under the tenure of CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker, the network has promulgated excessive coverage of the poop cruise; waddled through a question-sharing scandal in the 2016 presidential election cycle; aired a ridiculous amount of unfiltered Trump rallies during the campaign; retracted an investigative piece on Trump associate Anthony Scaramucci; and so on.
Isgur’s diminishing portfolio nestles comfortably into this league. Impeccably managed news organizations don’t make mistakes whose undoing entails the surrender of journalistic independence. Yet that’s what has happened here, despite this statement from a CNN spokeswoman…
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We can confirm that this episode exposes the perils of living on the narrow median strip of American politics. As we’ve argued before, CNN hired Isgur because of its efforts to stay in the middle lane. And it presided over her role reduction because of its efforts to stay in the middle lane. Hire people you believe in; stand behind them.