Inside CNN, a debate about taking Trump live
Tensions within CNN over its coverage of former President Donald J. Trump came to light Thursday during an internal call with the network's journalists, when an executive candidly questioned the approach of the channel's new CEO, Mark Thompson .
CNN aired about 10 minutes of Trump's victory speech after he won the Iowa caucuses on Monday, before wrapping up the election speech. The decision to cut him off drew ridicule from the former president and his allies, although critics on the left questioned why CNN had included Mr. Trump live in the first place, given his propensity to spread falsehoods and conspiracies. MSNBC chose not to follow any of his comments live.
Mr. Thompson opened his morning conference call on Thursday by acknowledging a debate within his newsroom and said he believed the network had a journalistic obligation to air the remarks of the leading Republican candidate for president.
After a period of silence, a senior vice president of programming, Jim Murphy, intervened and told Mr. Thompson that the network had given Mr. Trump too much airtime when the network aired Mr. Trump's live news conference last week after are civil fraud. process. Mr. Murphy said CNN should cover Mr. Trump's comments when he makes news, not when he repeats political talking points.
The debate over the conference call, which was open to thousands of CNN journalists, was described by three people who listened to the call or were briefed on its contents. They requested anonymity to avoid retaliation for sharing details of a conversation that was meant to be private.
The conversation between Mr. Thompson and Mr. Murphy, which lasted about 15 minutes, was lively but collegial, the people said. According to one report, Mr. Thompson said he believed CNN had struck the right balance between letting the public hear from the Republican front-runner while not allowing Mr. Trump an endless soapbox — and that he believed CNN would at some point make points during the election of 2016, had given Mr. Trump too much airtime. It's a criticism that the network's then-president Jeff Zucker has acknowledged.
The conundrum of keeping tabs on Mr. Trump, who is often quick to unleash inflammatory and misleading comments, has vexed news executives since the early days of his first presidential run. The tensions within CNN speak to ongoing debates in journalistic circles, even as Trump moves closer to securing the Republican nomination.
On MSNBC, a network popular with left-leaning viewers, host Rachel Maddow told viewers on the night of the caucuses that she simply would not broadcast Trump live.
“It's not out of spite. It is not a decision we enjoy,” Ms Maddow said. “It is a decision that we return to regularly, and honestly and seriously. It's not an easy decision. But there are costs associated with knowingly broadcasting untrue things for us as a news organization.”
That approach drew ridicule from a Trump ally, Fox News host Sean Hannity, later in the week. “What?” Mr. Hannity said this on his Fox News program. “Is the audience going to melt when they hear him?”