
<p>Less than a year ago, CNN was purchased by media mogul David Zaslav &#8212; owner of the Discovery Channel. ; It was at a time when the pioneer cable news network’s ratings were tanking. ; It had slipped to third place – waaay behind FOX News and even behind MSNBC.</p>



<p>Zaslav announced that there would be changes at CNN to re-commit the network to its original standards of journalistic integrity. ; If he was serious, that meant heads would have to roll. ;</p>



<p>At the time I made a few modest suggestions to the new management. ; Surprisingly, CNN&#8217;s actions seemed to follow my recommendations – at least coincidentally. ; I suggested that the first to go should be erstwhile media critic Brian Stelter. ; Puff!! ; He was gone. ; Then there was the very biased White House reporter, John Harwood. ; Puff!! ; He was gone. I specifically suggested getting a new team for the morning show. ; Puff!!! ; John Berman and Brianna Keilar were gone. ; ;</p>



<p>I suggested a new primetime lineup – getting rid of the Don Lemon show. ; Lemon’s show did end, but he was switched over to the morning show with Kaitlan Collins and Poppy Harlow as co-hosts. ; In promoting the new team, CNN is casting them as holding a conversation – suggesting balanced reporting. ; </p>



<p>They refer to themselves as “friends” – borrowing the collegial approach of their competitor’s “FOX and Friends” theme. ; We will have to see how that goes.</p>



<p>Still more work to do.</p>



<p>An unfulfilled recommendation of mine is that they dump arguably their most offensive and biased host, Jim Acosta. ; As long as he is engaging in his highly partisan approach, CNN will not make a full recovery from its bias affliction. ; There are rumors that Acosta is on the list of the nearly departed. ; CNN denies that rumor, but CNN also denied rumors about Stelter before they booted him</p>



<p>Another guy who must go, in my judgment, is John Avlon. ; The old CNN management gave him a special feature called “Reality Check”. ; It was nothing of the kind. ; Instead, it provided an opportunity for the smarmy Avlon to preach biased and bogus narratives on a regular basis. ; </p>



<p>Most recently, he used the occasion to attack the Republicans engaged in debates with Democrats as if he was the closing argument for the Democrats. ; It could not have been more biased had the Democratic National Committee written the script. ; Hmmmm. ; Maybe they did.</p>



<p>Another on my adios list is Jake Tapper. ; Rather than booting him, it appears that the new management is going to try some remedial training. ; I have noted that he has been asking those on the left some of the hard questions. ; He has also been interviewing real Republicans – not the false flaggers.</p>



<p>Finally, FOX alum Alisyn Camerota – who was demoted from the morning show to a dreary midafternoon show – is back in good graces. ; She is being tried out for a primetime show.</p>



<p>While all this about the on-screen personalities, the real change will take place in the back office and control room. ; Those are the folks who write the scripts and select the panelists and guests. ; Those changes do not make the news but are critical to the change in direction. ; We have already seen some changes behind the cameras.</p>



<p>It is not likely that even the new CNN will please hardcore conservatives, but more balance will be good for Republicans … the country … journalism … and CNN.</p>



<p>So, there ‘tis.</p>

An update on the “new” CNN … and the not so new
