Referring to Former President Donald Trump’s claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen as “The Big Lie” is reportedly a “Big No-No” at CNN under new leadership.
On Tuesday, Mediaite reported that CNN president Chris Licht told CNN staffers on a Tuesday conference call to refrain from referring to Trump’s claims as “The Big Lie” because that phrase is seen as a Democratic talking point.
“It’s worrisome that we’re being told how to talk about one of the worst things that ever happened to American democracy,” an anonymous CNN source reportedly said to Mediaite. “We have to call lies, lies, whether they’re small lies or big lies. Is there any lie bigger than that lie?”
Licht took over the network this past spring after Jeff Zucker was forced to resign due to an undisclosed relationship with a CNN employee.
The new network president almost immediately instituted changes at the cable outlet.
In a memo sent to staffers shortly after his appointment, Licht laid out his vision for the company under his direction.
“…too many people have lost trust in the news media,” he said in the memo. “I think we can be a beacon in regaining that trust by being an organization that exemplifies the best characteristics of journalism: fearlessly speaking truth to power, challenging the status quo, questioning group-think, and educating viewers and readers with straightforward facts and insightful commentary, while always being respectful of differing viewpoints.”
Licht also recently advised employees to refrain from using the “Breaking News” banner on the station, unless it is truly warranted.
“We are truth-tellers, focused on informing, not alarming our viewers,” Licht said in a memo that was obtained by Axios. “You’ve already seen far less of the ‘Breaking News’ banner across our programming,” the memo also noted.
“It has become such a fixture on every channel and network that its impact has become lost on the audience,” Licht also said.
On Thursday, The Daily Wire also reported that anchor Brian Stelter is allegedly on thin ice at the network and could potentially be fired within “weeks,” according to one report.
The Daily Wire further noted that Stelter has repeatedly displayed partisanship on his show — something that Licht wants CNN to move away from.
For example, The Daily Wire pointed out that in February, “Stelter ripped podcast host Joe Rogan while trumpeting his own network, babbling, ‘You think about major newsrooms like CNN that have health departments and deaths and operations that work hard on verifying information on COVID-19, and then you have talk show stars like Joe Rogan, who just swing it, who make it up as they go along. And because figures like Rogan are trusted by people that don’t trust real newsrooms, we have a tension — a problem that’s much bigger than Spotify, much bigger than any single platform.’”