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Monday, August 22, 2022

Anti-Centrists Trigger #BoycottCNN Hash Tag


CNN’s centrist move has triggered a call to #BoycottCNN, as many are dissatisfied with what one user calls the “new corporate oligarchy,” reports TheWrap.

“Good morning and Happy Sunday to everyone who agrees that if CNN has consciously decided to push Republican positions, it’s time to #BoycottCNN,” one user tweeted. “I’m watching @MSNBC exclusively now.”

Some left-leaning CNN fans have changed their tide on the news organization after speculation that John Malone, Warner Bros. Discovery shareholder and billionaire media mogul, might have been behind canceling Brian Stelter’s “Reliable Sources.”

Many pointed out Malone and his companies’ support of Trump might reflect CNN’s centrist move. In 2017, Liberty Media Corporation, an organization in which Malone is chairman of the board, contributed “personal and corporate contributions adding up to $1 million” for Trump’s inauguration, according to media watchdog group FAIR.

Malone denied the accusation in an email to The New York Times. According to The Times, Malone said he had “nothing to do with” canceling Stelter’s show, saying that he wants “the ‘news’ portion of CNN to be more centrist, but [he is not] in control or directly involved.”

In his last episode of “Reliable Sources” aired Sunday morning, Stelter discussed Malone’s role in shifting the CNN’s politics with Insider’s Claire Atkinson.

“He’s a businessman; he’s looking at where the money is, where the audience is, and the viewership on the left is split between CNN and MSNBC and the viewership on the right is all at Fox News,” Atkinson said. “They have a bigger audience, lots of money, and perhaps he’s saying, ‘what if we shift a little bit this way, maybe we’ll get that too.'”

"I believe America needs CNN to be strong, I believe the free world needs CNN to be strong, and it will continue to be because all of us are going to help make that happen. The free world needs a reliable source. So, for ‘Reliable Sources,’ for the last time, I'm Brian Stelter, thanks for being with us," Stelter said, concluding his final episode.

During his remarks, Stelter thanked his wife as well as several others involved in the program behind the scenes. He thanked former CNN president Jeff Zucker as well as current CNN boss Chris Licht.

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