Soledad O’Brien Leaving CNN Would Be Another Journalistic Blow To Floundering Network

[egbertowillies]

Last edited Thu Feb 21, 2013, 01:53 PM - Edit history (1)

One can only hope the rumor and insinuation that Soledad O’Brien is likely out at CNN will not come to fruition. There are few journalists left at these networks that are willing to jeopardize their careers by providing factual, stinging, and probative interviews.

CNN has always been known for hard new. While people will migrate to their ideological comfort zone during times of marginally important news, whenever world events are active, CNN has been the place to go.

Many have been completely disillusioned with the new direction CNN has been taking over the last few years. They have been moving ever more rightward seemingly to provide “balanced news” not realizing that news should never be balanced but truthful and factual. This at times will mean a side that is attempting to pass provable misinformation as news is ignored, removed from coverage to prevent a false plausibility of their argument. CNN seem to hope that becoming Fox News lite will bring some of that audience even as they damage their brand.

Sadly their coverage of soft news (e.g., their 24/7 over the top coverage of the disabled Triumph cruise liner) blew all the other networks out of the ratings water in the demographics that matter. This does not bode well for the real journalism that characterizes Soledad O’Brien’s work.

Soledad O’Brien is a hardcore journalist. She tackled very difficult racial issues both from an intra and inter race perspective in her series “Black In America” & “Latino In America”. Her very probing interview of John Sununu, her interview of gun advocate John Lott, and her ‘no spin allowing’ interview of Rudy Giuliani gave many hope that CNN was returning to hard news instead of a false balance.

If Soledad O’Brien leaves CNN, she will take many viewers with her wherever she lands. CNN better be very careful. Just as Fox News is no longer considered a news network by most Americans, CNN runs the risk of the same. Unfortunately for CNN, their base is not comprised of those whose minds are easily manipulated or fact challenged.

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[Leslie Valley]

1. Fledgling network?

They were the 1st and at one time the largest.

Hardly fledgling.

[LiberalFighter]

2. Agreed.

1: a young bird just fledged

2: an immature or inexperienced person

3: one that is new <a fledgling company>

[egbertowillies]

10. You are all correct of course. I should change it.

[Tom Ripley]

3. I think that should be "foundering", not "fledgling"

[Newsjock]

4. Or 'flailing'

Or "flapping in the wind." Or ...

[We People]

5. Floundering, even...

If she does leave, I hope she'll keep up the good work someplace where she'll have a large audience and can do what she's been doing very well.

[lunatica]

6. You must be kidding

CNN jumped the shark with OJ Simpson, Michael Jackson, Lorenna Bobbit and every missing young blond in the country last Century.

[WI_DEM]

7. I wish she would go to MSNBC

p.s.
I don't consider CNN 'a hard news' station any more than the rest of them--especially in recent years.

[One of the 99]

8. Replace Mika with Soledad

That would make that show far more balanced and interesting.

[Cali_Democrat]

11. But then what happens to Mika Mouse?

[One of the 99]

12. Who cares!

[Cali_Democrat]

13. ...

[AlinPA]

9. Is she going to MSNBC or Fox?

[Rosco T.]

15. MSNBC Please.... fill in for Rachel to start :)

till she gets enough following there to get her own show

[DFW]

14. I can't imagine there's enough money to get her to go to Fox

At least I hope not. I think MSNBC would be her natural home if she left CNN. How about Soledad and Rachel back to back?

There would be more candlepower in those two hours than all the rest of TV journalism.