MSNBC and CNN have faced a tumultuous year in the media landscape, which has resulted in layoff announcements and the departure of major network executives.
Warner Bros. Discovery-owned CNN continued its downward trend in 2021 with the resignation of Jeff Zucker, the decision to ditch its streaming service CNN+ after just one month, and layoffs in December.
MSNBC, meanwhile, fared better by comparison, but suffered losses like much of the industry. NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News and MSNBC, is laying off employees at its broadcast and cable television networks, Business Insider reports. MSNBC also faces the difficult task of trying to replace Rachel Maddow, who now runs one night a week, and her timeslot lacks the viewership that previously flocked to the network.
IS THIS CNN? USED ​​NETWORK HAS HAD A STRAIGHT YEAR WITH HIGH RATINGS, RATINGS CONTINUED.
WarnerMedia initially claimed that Jeff Zucker was forced out because he engaged in consensual sex, but has since admitted that he also violated the network’s “journalistic integrity.”
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In addition to the behind-the-scenes challenges, CNN and MSNBC participated in several on-air segments that left viewers shocked, outraged, and taking to social media to join in the debate.
In late November, MSNBC analysts Maria Hinijosa and Fernand Amandi agreed that there is no “crisis” at the border during an appearance on The Mehdi Hasan Show.
During the segment, guest host Paola Ramos even took issue with the border footage that MSNBC was running after her, saying, “Look, first of all, we have to stop using the footage that’s being shown right now. You know? , we’re in a crisis that’s a human drama. We don’t have to talk about it, but it’s not that the United States is overwhelmed with uncontrollable border situations. [in] – no!”
MSNBC also faced backlash after analyst Matthew Dowd claimed that Jesus Christ would have been called a “groom,” a “socialist” and a “woke” by conservatives when he was alive.
While appearing on Deadline: The White House, Nicole Wallace asked Dowd how some conservatives are using the “disruption” of faith as “political leverage” in a “culture war” over policies that affect young children. .
“The whole message of the Gospel about Easter was to love one another. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: If Jesus Christ were alive today, He would be called the bridegroom, He would be called the risen one. , and if He were alive today “Then he would be called a socialist,” Dowd replied.
MSNBC GUEST TO MAKE SWEET LOVE TO SUPREME COURT, IF PREGNANT WOULD BE “JOYFUL”
After the Supreme Court released a draft opinion suggesting that Roe v. Wade was headed in the opposite direction, MSNBC host Ayman Mohyeldin broke into laughter after a guest announced he wanted to “make sweet love” to anyone who leaked the draft. However, he did not stop there.
“I want to know who the whistleblower is. So I can make sweet love to that person because that person is a hero,” guest Lori Kilmartin said, prompting laughter from the MSNBC host.
“A lot of people are saying the kidnapper might be a conservative. If the leaker is a Republican and I get pregnant while having sex, I’ll happily abort our fetus,” Kilmartin added.
In the run-up to the midterm elections, MSNBC host Elie Mystal came under fire for comments he made about then-Republican Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker and the Republican Party.
On an episode of MSNBC’s “The Cross Connection with Tiffany Cross,” Mystal called Walker “what Republicans want from their Negroes” in a black candidate. This comes months after Mystal wrote a column calling Walker’s campaign “an insult to black people.”
Walker later responded to Mystal’s comments, saying, “Shame and shame on MSNBC. I’m praying for both of them because they need Jesus.”
The Comcast/NBC Universal Building, also known as UCP10, is seen at Universal City on Wednesday, June 2, 2021, in Los Angeles, California.
(Danish Maxwell/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Most of the segments that have garnered social media attention at CNN have come from “Don Lemon Tonight,” before the network anchor was moved to CNN’s new morning show, “CNN This Morning.” Lemon said he was not demoted.
In one segment, after asking about the impact of climate change on Hurricane Ian, Lemon was shut down by the acting director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Hurricane Center.
“I don’t think you can pin climate change on one event. In general, climate change is likely to make hurricanes worse. But I would be wary of pinning it on one event,” – says Jamie Rohm told Lemon after being repeatedly asked how climate change has anything to do with hurricanes.
Lemon then said that he grew up in Florida, and despite Rhome’s comments, something was fueling these storms.
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In another segment following Queen Elizabeth’s death, British royal family expert Hilary Fordwich silenced a CNN anchor by arguing that African slave owners should “pay reparations” rather than the British Empire.
“Some people want the money back, and members of the public are saying, ‘Why are we struggling when you have so much wealth?'” Those are legitimate concerns, Lemon said.
Fordwich agreed that the desire for reparations was alive and well, but those who wanted it could look to African slaves.
“I think you’re absolutely right. If reparations are to be paid, we have to go back to the beginning of that supply chain and say, ‘Who rounded up his people and put them in a cage.’ Of course, that’s where they have to start,” he said.
Fox News’ Lindsay Cornick and Hannah Panrek.