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David Leavy, the newly implemented C.O.O. at CNN and a longtime member of the Zaslav braintrust.
Dylan Byers • June 2, 2023

Zaz Brings in the Pain Sponge

It’s been a nightmarish 48 hours at CNN: first, Zaslav’s lieutenant Dave Leavy was brought in as C.O.O., marginalizing Chris Licht’s authority; then came that brutal Tim Alberta dissertation in The Atlantic. Hudson Yards is alight with fresh agony. But is the worst over?
Dylan Byers • May 31, 2023
The Old Men and the C-List
Graydon Carter, Bob Iger, and Jeff Zucker.
An elegy for media’s old guard in an age of generational change.
Dylan Byers • May 24, 2023
Bezos at Sea, The Kaitlan Experiment & Murdoch Succession Fantasies
To level-set, Jeff Bezos spent twice as much on this new 417-foot, Sanchez-adorned yacht as he did on the Post.
Insights and observations on what the chattering classes are chatting about in advance of the holiday weekend.
James Pitaro, Chairman of ESPN.
Dylan Byers • May 19, 2023
ESPN’s Brave New World
Disney’s announcement that it will send ESPN off on its own D.T.C. journey introduces a host of provocations for the industry: namely, is this the true beginning of the end of cable, and perhaps of ESPN as we once knew it, too?
“We know Trump and his tendencies, everyone does,” Christiane Amanpour said. “He just seizes the stage and dominates, no matter how much flack the moderator tries to aim at the incoming.”
Dylan Byers • May 17, 2023
When It Rains, It Amanpours
Notes on the ongoing fallout from a cable news makeover.
CNN C.E.O. Chris Licht had advised Collins not to be combative with Trump, sources familiar said.
Dylan Byers • May 12, 2023
Licht’s Dispassion Punch
Inside CNN, the reverberations from Wednesday’s town hall are still being profoundly felt, further testing the long-strained relationship between the network’s anchors and journalists on one side and their newly dispassionate boss on the other. As one insider put it: “It’s Chris Licht’s fucking CNN now.”