WBD CEO: "Republicans Are Back on The Air" At CNN

David Zaslav, the CEO of CNN’s parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, yet again stood up for his overhaul of the struggling cable network, which has faced intense criticism since ditching its left-leaning commentary.

Zaslav said CNN’s team is “working hard” to reposition the network, and that “Republicans are back on the air” at CNN while speaking at the MoffettNathanson Technology, Media and Telecom Conference in New York on Thursday, according to Variety.

He went on to say that CNN’s notoriously “left-leaning” brand was changing, and cited a YouGov poll that found an 11-point improvement in US viewers’ trust in CNN, Variety reported.

That same report, conducted April 3-9, 2023, asked 1,516 adult Americans how trustworthy they rate news organizations. CNN was rated 26% trustworthy — the same as Fox and MSNBC.

“Our view is, there’s advocacy networks on either side. We have the best journalists in the world. We need to show both sides of every issue,” he said at the conference.

“CNN should be the place that people come for the best version of the truth and for journalism,” he added.

The 63-year-old media boss went on to address CNN’s attempts to rebuild itself as a network that addresses “both sides” of an issue rather than being an “advocacy network,” adding that the likes of CNN CEO Chris Licht are “working hard” to reposition the network.