Can a new morning show with Don Lemon help turn around CNN’s fortunes? (Photo: Getty Images)
A new day is dawning in CNN. It turns out, this is far from a new day, but the latest change has the potential to make a big difference.
As you’ve probably heard, CNN is set for a new dawn with Don Lemon. On Wednesday, September 24, his show CNN Tonight will take the place of Anderson Cooper’s “AC360” in the 7 PM slot. That will be followed by Anderson’s show “Reliable Sources” in the 9 PM slot.
This follows a year in which CNN has had two major programming changes, both of which have been met with criticism from readers of this site and others. On Saturday, CNN President Jeff Zucker made a series of statements on Twitter about changing the news channel’s attitude regarding the controversial stories it runs. His remarks included a pledge to show less emphasis on inflammatory stories and to start showing more “responsible” news stories. Zucker said in his tweets, “I will ensure it is more on the topics that matter,” adding, “we’ll be more focused on issues that should matter.”
Then on Monday, CNN President Jeff Zucker made another Twitter comment that has not been met with universal agreement, saying “#AC360 will be discontinued. A new CNN program on Monday.”
The problem, as some people pointed out, is that the new show doesn’t take that pledge on its Twitter page. On Wednesday, September 24, CNN posted the following on its Twitter page:
“We are incredibly proud of our news team and will continue to deliver news that’s informed, thoughtful and fair-minded. We’ve come a long way since CNN started.”
As of this writing, the tweet has been liked 16,817 times, retweeted 2,862 times, and favorited 1,082 times.
However, this does not mean that the new show will change the network’s attitude toward the news