Zaslav Storms CNN to Offer Full-Throated Defense of CEO Chris Licht — Despite Admission They’ve ‘Gotten a Lot Wrong’

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav fully backed CNN CEO Chris Licht in a town hall at the network despite its recent struggles.

Puck and the New York Post obtained quotes from a town hall Zaslav held this week with about 600 staffers for CNN — in which Zaslav emphatically threw his support behind Licht, called for unity across the network, and proclaimed that CNN stands on the brink of a “rendezvous with destiny.”

Zaslav also addressed the ratings woes that are plaguing the network. Puck’s Dylan Byers reported:

Here’s a number of excerpts from a transcript obtained by Mediaite:


I am so proud that we have a chance to do every day with CNN is to be a real purveyor of facts and truth in journalism and to be a place that people can go. Where they can have a national and global conversation about what’s going on in the world. And we’re not an advocacy network. We’re a news network. And as we look at where we are, We see that advocacy networks make a lot of money…

We’re not trying to make more money. If I woke up today and said ‘You know what, we can make another $300 million. Let’s out-MSNBC MSNBC.’ When I left, they turned left. Chris would be gone. He would leave that day. That’s not what his mission in life is. That’s not what he came here to do. It’s not what I came here to do, and it’s not what you came here to do.

When I look at a lot of the questions that I have about what to do, and we know what’ s the right answer. I don’t have the right answers. There isn’t a playbook for my job. There’s not a playbook for Chris’s job. He’s gotten a lot wrong. We’ve gotten a lot wrong. That’s how it works. You get something? You take a look. Okay now we’re gonna change this. We’re going to change that. That’s who we are. We’re all flawed. We’re trying to figure out what is the best CNN.

Ever since former CNN chief Jeff Zucker’s departure, Zaslav has supported Licht’s efforts to pull CNN away from the bombastic anti-Trump coverage that it became known for over the last half-decade, refocusing on a commitment to straight-news journalism. Laslav reaffirmed this position during the town hall, saying CNN is “not an advocacy network,” and spotlighting Licht for “bringing CNN back to its roots.”