This just keeps getting uglier for collapsing CNN boss Chris Licht
For months, many have waited for a profile piece that was to be written. This was a profile on CNN CEO Chris Licht. It is written by Tim Alberta for The Atlantic, and it is out. And it is stunning. Alberta wrote a great piece. He gets inside Licht’s mind, and regretfully that is not a great place to be.
Licht reads as a man drowning in denial. He comes across as someone so in love with his own voice and ideas that it’s to the detriment of the people around them. There are so many new revelations in this piece as well. Allow me, if you will to describe a few.
After the Trump town hall, Licht, in Alberta’s words, wore “the expression of a man who had just survived a car wreck.” Licht earned the ire of many of his employees early on — because he would not stop insulting the “old” CNN and its creator, Jeff Zucker, who was and is still, near and dear to the hearts of many at CNN.
Employee morale was so bad many CNN employees contemplated a group walk-out and resignation. Many of them started calling competitors like MSNBC. Reportedly just a few weeks into his job, Licht told his producers to downplay the first January 6 hearing, a move that backfired as MSNBC covered it and garnered huge ratings.
Licht also felt the media personalities let themselves get too upset by some of Trump’s actions. Everything can’t be an earthquake, he said. This attitude also did not endear him to his employees. Licht made the BIG mistake of telling some pundits to model themselves after Jake Tapper. If I’d been with CNN, I’d have quit on the spot after an insulting comment like that!
As criticism about Licht poured in and worsened like storm clouds turning torrential, Licht slowly began to lose his good nature. He became angry. He started obsessing over his coverage. Worse for Licht, he began calling and confronting some of those reporters he felt were being too hard on him.
Robert Reich was one of them. He also confronted a Puck writer. He threatened to “destroy” JOURNALIST Kurt Bardella. Licht reportedly saw all the attacks as coordinated LIBERAL attacks. And he struggled to contain his rage.
There is much more to the story of Licht and CNN. Parts are sad. Others are tragic. Much is bittersweet. What stands out to me is the hubris of Chris Licht. It always seems hubris is the deciding domino in bringing someone down.
Licht comes across as lonely, cut off, determined to find validation, loathed by some employees, not open to feedback, and seriously grandiose. It’s a striking piece on yet another person who started out wanting to do good but wound up falling into the ever-growing pit of hot and boiling hubris.
