Absurdly: It's Becoming Clearer That CNN Has Abandoned All Objective Journalism
Every day it is becoming clearer that CNN, the once proud ratings giant and unquestioned cable network news leader, has abandoned objective journalism to cultivate obsessive hatred for President Donald Trump. It has literally "jumped the shark," meaning that a once distinguished broadcaster has become absurd. The original definition referred to the fifth season premiere episode of the hit TV show Happy Days, in which the main character, Fonzie, literally jumped over a shark while water skiing in his signature leather jacket. It is also a perfect reference to a broadcast network like CNN that has diminished greatly in quality and popularity.
Sadly, CNN has become infected with Trump Derangement Syndrome. The network is filled with liberal hosts and analysts who regularly spew antipathy toward our President. In the aftermath of the infamous White House meeting focused on solving immigration problems including how to deal with DACA recipients, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) claimed that the President used the word "s...hole" in reference to Haiti and countries in Africa. During the meeting, Trump supposedly asked why the United States should accept more people from those countries instead of countries such as Norway.
Even though the President and two Republican Senators disputed the fact that the crude word was used, CNN decided to air the word "s...hole" 196 times in just one day. This unfortunate decision shows their lack of broadcast standards and common decency. Surely parents with small children, as well as adults who are offended by profanity, were upset to hear such foul language on a formerly respected network.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
If the President used the word, at least it was uttered in a private, closed-door and supposedly "off the record" meeting. In contrast, CNN allowed the word to be used during programs aired all throughout their broadcast day.
After focusing almost exclusively on the contentious DACA meeting for days, CNN decided to put their own spin on the issue of the President's health. On Tuesday, the President's physician, Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson, publicly addressed the media for almost an hour. He delivered the results of the President's annual physical and a 30-question cognitive test. Not surprisingly, the President passed both tests with flying colors, actually, scoring a 100% on the cognitive test.
Amazingly, this superlative result upset the hostile news media who questioned the integrity of the President's physician and the testing methods used. The media was uninterested that Jackson actually served both Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. They wanted a story that the President was somehow "sick." Thus, CNN interviewed their Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who reviewed the test results and diagnosed the President with heart disease. Of course, he never personally examined Trump, but delivered an "expert" medical opinion that the President was dangerously sick. This ludicrous conclusion was derided by even liberal media colleagues and described as "hyperbolic" by U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), not exactly President Trump's top supporter. Regrettably, CNN is so invested in their anti-Trump agenda that their on-air personalities cannot even accept a positive medical report delivered by a source with impeccable credentials.
This week, the President also announced his highly anticipated "Fake News Awards." Among all news outlets, CNN was the overwhelming winner in the unsavory category of "Fake News" by winning four of the ten awards. No other news outlet came close, as clearly CNN stands atop the media world in this area.
Of course, this did not sit well with White House Correspondent Jim Acosta who claimed that the President, not his network, was the "King of Fake News." Acosta had a tough week after being publicly scolded at news conferences by both White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney. He also was ignominiously thrown out of a news briefing by President Trump, who became agitated after Acosta continued his well-documented pattern of childish behavior and yelled several obnoxious questions. The President simply, but firmly, told Acosta to get "out."
These disturbing CNN antics are nothing new. The previous week, senior presidential advisor for policy, Stephen Miller, was shouted down by unhinged CNN anchor Jake Tapper during the taping of the Sunday show State of the Union. Miller was repeatedly interrupted, and his microphone was turned off. Eventually, Miller was escorted out of the CNN studio because Tapper did not like his answers. Miller had the audacity to criticize CNN for its biased programming. Henceforth, members of the Trump administration should refrain from appearing on any CNN programs.
The White House should already know that CNN is their sworn enemy and working constantly to present the President as negatively as possible. Instead of reporting on the improving stock market, high consumer confidence, historically low unemployment rates, and the success in the battle against ISIS, CNN prefers to give wall-to-wall coverage to any issue that may damage the political standing of President Trump. For example, CNN shows provided extensive coverage of the book of anti-Trump fiction, Fire and Fury, by discredited author Michael Wolff.
CNN will never give President Trump credit for the improving economy and for the two million new jobs created or the bonuses being announced by corporate giants such as Wal-Mart in the wake of the passage of the historic tax cuts. Instead, the network will continue to focus on the questionable Mueller investigation, and tout every conspiracy theory imaginable to damage the credibility and effectiveness of the President.
CNN is a shadow of its former self and functions in a manner that is the complete opposite of how a fair and balanced network should operate. In its infancy, the network cared about reporting the real facts, maintaining objectivity, while being dedicated to true journalism. Today, the network devotes 24 hours a day to one main goal, attacking a man they despise, Donald Trump.
Jeff Crouere is a native New Orleanian and his award winning program, "Ringside Politics," airs locally at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and at 10:00 p.m. Sundays on PBS affiliate WLAE-TV, Channel 32, and from 7-11 a.m. weekdays on WGSO 990-AM & www.Wgso.com. He is a political columnist, the author of America's Last Chance and provides regular commentaries on the Jeff Crouere YouTube channel and on www.JeffCrouere.com. For more information, email him at jeff@jeffcrouere.com
