An Open Letter To CNN's CEO Chris Licht

From a group of Veterans who only care about America, not a political party.

Dec 26, 2022

Dear Sir,

Journalism and newsrooms are in a state of failure as they have gotten away from their core mission and the principles that guided them for decades. When operating effectively, a free press acts as the “fourth branch of government,”conducting the peoples’ check on government. Our founders knew this given the order of the Bill of Rights: for if the First Amendment fails, then the second will not.

Given the current industry dynamics, we believe what is good for our nation is simultaneously good for the profitability of CNN. Thus, your position puts you in a place that history may very well determine was one of the most pivotal roles since WWII given that your decision have the potential to influence the path of our republic. We write you, as we believe CNN has the potential to become the newsroom of the people if it reinstate journalist principles, adopts Extreme Ownership, and takes a long-term view on the business.

“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” - Jefferson

Failing Industry and Unintended Consequences:

We submit to you simple truths that point to failure of the modern journalist and their newsrooms.

Comedians More Trusted Than Journalists1: Polls indicated that Jon Stewart, a comedian, was more trusted than journalist and their newsrooms in 2008;
In 3Q21: It was estimated that Joe Rogan averaged 11M viewers per show compared to 0.82M for CNN Primetime; and
Gallup Poll 10/20222: 38% of Americans have no trust in mainstream media, which is greater than the people who have great trust and fair trust combined.

Let us be clear, people who make fart jokes are more trusted than: “professional” journalists. There should be no greater insult to those operating within the profession. Yet, instead of asking why this is the case, “journalists” instead went on a barrage of attacks and doubled down on their methods that eroded the public trust in the first place. To add further insult to injury, the failure of journalism has had the following profound consequences:

The Land of Oppression: Getting Americans to believe that their country is a land of oppression requires a special skill that the media has clearly demonstrated it possess. Yet, we have never seen anyone in the media proclaim which country would be better for immigrants, minorities or the marginalized. If journalists are going to push their narrative, they should be able to provide one alternative. For the only people that hate America are terrorist and American Journalist.
Intolerance & Hate: Despite preaching the values of tolerance and kindness, the media has embarked on the opposite path; consistently declaring all who have a difference of opinion only do so because they are intolerant and hateful. Is there truly no other explanation for a difference of opinion? Newsrooms are responsible for the hate between fellow Americans.
Immunity for Dictators and Tyrants: The first two blunders have inadvertently given cover to the vile treatment of people around the world: women, ethnic minorities etc. Specifically, those in Iran and China. The media’s OVER-exaggerations of race and sex issues has ruined the credibility of America and provided justification for the killing of women in Iran and concentration camps in China. How can America call out these acts when newsrooms consistently say America is irredeemably racist and sexist?Newsroom’s past transgressions not only damage America but harm people around the globe.
Rise of “Alex Jones” Types: When people lose faith in the newsrooms, they provide the opportunity for people like Alex Jones and conspiracy theorists to gain traction. All newsrooms need to accept that their failures have led to the rise of these people. If journalists did their job, these people would not have the same level of following as they currently do.

Figure 1: Newsrooms Failures Span Decades

Source: Gallup Poll published October 18, 2022

“…in its current form, if CNN were publicly traded, we would not be able to get enough margin to short an optimal number of shares (all of them) given CNN’s respect and trust with viewers is severely broken and therefore so is the business.”

The News Business

All newsrooms are in the business of trust. Clicks and soundbites will generate short-term unsustainable revenues as it seeks to go after the smallest total addressable market (TAM), the 10% of each extreme political ideology. But Trust is what generates long-term sustainable revenues and value for all stakeholders. Just like in any relationship: (1) trust is earned not given; (2) it can be lost swiftly if not careful; and (3) once broken it is extremely difficult to put back together.

Businesses who prioritize revenue over product quality get a pop and drop in profitability. Businesses who are hyper-focused on product quality, that improves the lives of its users, achieve sustainable revenue growth and profitability. Many believe that advertisers are the customers of newsrooms given they are the ones generate revenue. This is wrong. Newsrooms’ customers are the viewers/readers. If you grow viewers and keep them, advertisers will be forced to show up, giving the newsroom more pricing power. When your product is weak and relies on clicks and soundbites you are at the behest of your advertisers and government sources.

The trust with newsrooms is so severely damaged that what was once a competitive moat now has the London Bridge laid across it as demonstrated with the rise of independent journalist:

Common Sense

[Now The Free Press] by Beri Weiss and others featured on Substack. Given this set up, in its current form, if CNN were publicly traded, we would not be able to get enough margin to short an optimal number of shares (ALL OF THEM) given CNN’s respect and trust with viewers is severely broken and therefore so is the business.

CNN Failures - An Incomplete Summary:

We believe that no problem can be addressed until the problem is directly outlined. Therefore, we submit to you a candid incomplete summary of our observations; as a complete list would require a book. While we call out CNN, we note that all major newsrooms suffer from these issues, but most are not in a position to be saved.

Lack of Accountability and Ethics. A brief reviewing the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics leaves one wondering if ethics are even a consideration at CNN as it is not evident. When inaccurate reporting occurs, which will happen from time to time, CNN consistently fails to take responsibility. Instead, journalist double down on their position. A silly self-inflicted wound can be summarized in a simple question: “Is Ivermectin fairly described as a horse dewormer?” Your journalists seem to believe so, despite your own Chief Medical Correspondent, Sanjay Guptayour3, indicated that it is not. Did Mr. Lemon4 and others not have access to the internet? If we can’t trust them to do a Google search, how can we trust them to report on complex topics?
Recall that in 20155, NBC Nightly News removed Brian Williams as anchor after it was discovered he exaggerated his experiences in Iraq back in 2003 (12 years prior). At the time, he was the anchor of the number one nightly news program (9.4M viewers) and yet was let go for exaggerations. This is what accountability looks like. If CNN were to impliment simiar standards nearly all journalists would be fired.
Clicks over Trust: CNN’s use of hyperbolic headlines closely resembles the attention seeking behavior of teenagers rather than a serious news organization. Many times published pieces have no real purpose as the final two paragraphs often discredit everything that was written before it. It is clear that most headlines are used to get engagement from those who extremely agree or disagree. This is type of “journalism” only creates further divide in our country and eventually leads to the company failing.
The media has become the boy who cries Wolf, but instead of Wolf he Cried Racist and Sexist.
Activist Not Journalists: Your journalists don’t even bother to pretend to be unbiased anymore. Mr. Lemon recently flaunted his biases on Stephen Colbert. A review of his prior comments and misgivings is available for all to see on YouTube; many of which should be grounds for termination in a newsroom with a sliver of ethical accountability. If Mr. Lemon or others can’t even pretend to be neutral then they are NOT journalist, but activists. A clear example of CNN’s activism and sensational headlines is evident in CNN’s wonderful piece “Daylight Saving Time sheds light on lack of sleep disproportionate impact in communities of color.” I will give it to Ms. Howard, she found a way to make Daylight Savings Time about race, an impossible task for most rational minds. The media has become the boy who cries Wolf, but instead of Wolf they cry Racist and Sexist.
The Great News Desk Con: CNN and others have placed people behind news desks to provide creditability to anchor and validity to their statements. In reality, these “journalists” are not reporting facts but stating opinions presented as facts. They bring on “experts” who confirm their views or who are grossly inept at debating the anchor in a dog and pony show. Let’s be clear, journalists are experts at writing and telling stories. They are not the Czars of knowledge.

These 4 examples are just a small taste of the incompetency demonstrated by the CNN staff (calling them journalists is an insult to anyone who actually is a journalist). But the past is the past and we want CNN to thrive for all of its stakeholders. Therefore, we present you with a few key solutions.

“The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions it is a lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty.” - Thomas Jefferson

Solutions - A Path Forward

In order to turn the newsroom around you will have to be prepared to be brutally criticized by the extreme 10% prior management sought to make their target audience. Additionally, you will get little to no words of encouragement from the larger TAM who wants you to make these changes. A Gallup Party Affiliation Poll6 indicated that approximately 35%-45% are not affiliated with a political party. If we assume 15% of both democrats and republicans wand unbiased and moderate news that would grow your TAM to ~93M to ~111M out of 209M US Adults; much greater than the ~42M of political extremes.

Steve Jobs was famous for indicating that consumers do not know what they want and that it was Apple’s job to build it and show them. We believe the same can be said for CNN. We submit to you three key ideas that will provide a base foundation for turning the company around: (1) Extreme Ownership; (2) Cover Stories of Public Interest; and (3) A New Product.

“Extreme Ownership”

Navy Seal Commander Jocko Willink’s book ‘Extreme Ownership” should provider you and CNN with a road map of how leaders and journalists at CNN must act going forward. If CNN is to regain the trust of America it must take accountability for all of its misreporting, fact spinning and its general failure to keep Americans truly informed. We believe that extreme ownership requires the following actions be taken:

Terminations: Fire all activist masquerading as journalists as their credibility is worse than Brian Williams’ was in 2015.
Apologize: The apology must come from you as the leader of the organization. Additionally, each anchor must issue their own apology. With all credible apologies, it must be accompanied with how things will change and what will guide you going forward: Mission Statement.
Return Credibility to News Desk. Only place people behind the news desk if they are presenting news. When making statements of opinion, it must be called out up front. Perhaps disclosures should be present “Comments made by Mr. Lemon reflect his views and maybe absent of facts or lack a reasonable basis in reality.”

If you fail to take these three actions how can the people ever trust CNN? You must take drastic actions as regaining trust is harder than initially obtaining it. Perhaps you hire Jocko to come in advice on how to bring accountability back to CNN. These steps are the building blocks for a turnaround, without them it is not possible.

Cover Stories of Public Interest:

There are plenty of stories that exist that will get engagement from both political parties. We are not implying that you should only cover stories that have support on both sides but rather believe that these stories, if done correctly, can help to re-establish credibility with the network. If CNN were to spend as much time covering these topics as they do in trying to identify any tiny thing that can be linked to racism (i.e., day light savings time), Americans can get the information required to determine if a change is required.

Campaign Finance - In 20197, a Gallup poll indicated that 80% of Americans are unsatisfied with the current campaign contribution system. Perhaps CNN should dig into the topic to determine: (1) total money spent over the last decade, (2) how has spending changed since the Citizens United Decision; (3) where does the money go; (4) how does campaign spending compare to other US Gov't spending; and (5) are political parties funding the worst candidates from the other party, etc.
Viable Third Political Party - In 2021, Gallup8 determined that 62% of Americans believe a third political party is needed.

Members of Congress Trading Securities: it is estimated that 76%9 of Americans believe members of congress should not trade individual stocks. One of our contributors works on Wall Street as an analyst and has indicated that members of congress trade easier than he can while holding material information, which he does not.
Student Loan Crisis - Our own research, shows that universities have likely engaged in price gouging over the last 3 decades; likely driven by the government guaranteeing student loans without pricing controls. Further evidence of corruption at universities is when Harvard accepted $9 Million dollars in Covid relief funds despite sitting on nearly $42 Billion within its endowment.

A New Product:

The product offered by newsrooms is completely out of date for modern times. Broadcasts do not allow for deep conversation on complex issues and encourage guests and hosts to speak in soundbites. Additionally, most reporting today fails to answer the question of “why.” This does nothing to help your audience understand the issues of our time. Part of the reason Mr. Rogan gets more viewers for his +3-hour long podcasts than you do is his ability to speak in-depth with guests about a topic with real time fact checking on the show. It is time for CNN to recreate how the news is reported.

On-Air + Podcast: We believe that for complex topics, CNN needs to pair its on-air broadcast with an in-depth podcast that goes deeper into the issues. It needs to explain both points of view and dive into why they hold their point of view. We do not need Mr. Lemon to tell us what is right/wrong or moral/immoral. We need the facts and we can come to our own conclusions. If journalists do not believe that the American people are capable of coming to their own conclusions than how can they believe everyone should be able to vote as people need to come to their own conclusions to do so.
Make Sources Available: CNN needs to start providing its source material and demonstrate how it determined what is a “Fact.” If CNN is going to claim that women make $0.80 on the dollar compared to men, then it needs to show where this data comes from, how is it calculated and potential issues with the math. The why for the pay gap is not just sexism there are many layers to this but your journalists have a high school mindset and take the easiest answer.

The Closing:

People will tell you that a newsroom can not operate in the way that we are laying out. However, we will argue that it has never truly been attempted, especially in this toxic climate. If you truly want to make change, CNN needs to accept accountability and start over. We hope you heed our words and are able to make the changes required to save journalism and help guide our republic to a more stable path.