CNN Should Drop Chris Cuomo

Terry H. Schwadron

May 23, 2021

It’s weird that on the same day that CNN rises on his hind feet to bay righteously for protection of its reporters from government intrusion, it does absolutely nothing to enforce ethics standards itself involving commentator Chris Cuomo.

On the one hand, CNN was disclosing that the Justice Department under Donald Trump and Atty. Gen. William P. Barr had secretly targeted the phone and email records of CNN journalist Barbara Starr who who covers the Pentagon, though it was not clear what story had prompted a leak investigation leading to her.

That disclosure followed others that Justice had inappropriately gone after the personal information of other reporters, including three named at The Washington Post. CNN’s defense of its reporter’s work record was admirable, and the work of Bill Barr in twisting federal law, procedure and communications for the protection of Trump not so much.

On the other, the same network had to own up to a report in The Washington Post that Chris Cuomo actually was serving as an advisor to his brother, New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, urging him to deny allegations involving both sexual harassment at work and manipulation of covid data about nursing homes. On this, CNN is doing nothing, choosing instead to accept a half-hearted apology from its employee and a promise not to do so again.

We are in a time in which trust for the news media in general has plummeted, along with financial stability for that industry, and the lines of whom to believe are being blurred all over the place. It should be a time for more than adherence to ethical standards since credibility is the issue on which the audience and future of the viability of news organizations depend.

In a normal world, we would expect a straightforward acknowledgment from the government to step back, and we would expect that Chris Cuomo should be fired today.

A Growing Blur

Instead, we have quickened the crossing of lines of roles, ethics, and fairness in our personality-driven business.

The marketplace is showing us that factions withing the American public are showing that they will follow and believe only news organizations whose reports tend to favor opinions with which they already have partisan disposition to agree. The cable companies are hiring people who worked in the White House a minute ago as news anchors, and the White House, at least under Trump, was hiring from tv anchors. It has become an incestuous mess.

Hell, people are pushing commentator Tucker Carlson, who is almost routinely wrong about the actual information on which he has an opinion, as an actual candidate for president based solely on how obnoxious he can be on his nightly Fox show. It actually was surprising that former Sen. Rick Santorum was let go this weekend by CNN as a commentator seemingly over repeated racist statements, though the question really should be why he was hired at all\.

No wonder Chris Cuomo doesn’t think his dual loyalties are weird. Someone needs to tell him now that he can work for his family or work for a news organization, but not both.

News organizations, particularly those associated with right-leaning points of view, are now constantly searching the social media records of reporters in search of bias that makes no distinction between personal and professional outlook, and their news organizations are struggling with coming up with enforceable workplace policies that are effective.

We’re seeing staff revolts within news organizations over decisions over which the staff normally has no control about publishing op-eds, now guest essays, of different politicians with whom they disagree personally or whose words they see as incenting more division, if not public safety. We’re seeing reporters act as television anchors on the ever-airing cable stations, which make little effort to hide partisan leanings, and are loose about labeling even straight opinion from anything resembling news.

We’re seeing reporters showing up as consultants to the various cable companies, where they are allowed to prognosticate, but supposedly keep to an even-handed approach.

Indeed, we’re seeing healthy arguments within the news world about what exactly is meant by “objectivity” in a time when governments, companies, individuals and certainly politicians twist the truth daily.

Where’s the Rigor?

With instant social media and tweets dominating, it is increasingly difficult to reflect or pursue the rigor that I learned was essential in reporting. With instant responses from all sides, everyone is a publisher, and few are taking responsibility for their opinions and information. And, of course, if there is no video, there often is no news.

We’re failing to look sufficiently at the why, and too often failing to ask just one more question to establish the who, what, when and how. Routinely, we’re seeing individual situations depicted as “trends” and no accounting for cost or context other than the obvious partisan political one. News is not limited to fanning conflict, it should be about accountability and connecting dots that go unnoticed in the ways we live, are governed, talk with one another, seek out common solutions or not.

We refuse to inform ourselves sufficiently before taking sides; the opinion is the point rather than the understanding, leading us to absurdities in which anchors, left, right, or center, see themselves in a light of super-importance that is not justified in our society.

Here’s Washington Post media critic Eric Wemple:
“Chris Cuomo deserves every bit of ridicule thrown his way. Folks who work in journalism make a decision: We’re here to cover politicians and their consiglieres, not to work with them.”

We need to consider the sources of the information we consume, we need to compare accounts, and we need to think critically before jumping on a partisan bandwagon.

Otherwise, don’t call it news.

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