CNN staffers were among those scandalized and embarrassed by former President Donald Trump’s town hall appearance on the network on Wednesday, despite CEO Chris Licht’s solemn statement to the channel’s newsroom on Thursday morning that “America was served very well by what we did last night.”
The CEO of CNN, Warner Bros. Discovery’s cherished news network, is walking a tightrope. While the town hall drove a huge ratings spike — 3.3 million viewers or roughly four to five times what that time slot usually gets — the existential question was obvious: What did the ratings bump cost the network’s credibility?
“Our old shop has seen many high highs and low lows, but tonight is a new darkest hour,” wrote a former CNN staffer in an alumni Facebook group page shared with TheWrap.