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Good evening, I’m Dylan Byers.
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Welcome back to In The Room, my bi-weekly private email on the inner workings of the media industry. Today, we pull back to 30,000 feet to take the long view on Chris Licht’s master plan for CNN—and why, whether it succeeds or fails, it may prove to be a lot more interesting than anything else happening on cable news.
P.S. As a reminder, you're receiving the free version of In the Room at {{customer.email}}. For full access to Puck, and to each of my colleagues, you can subscribe here.
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SPONSORED BY FACEBOOK
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Chris Licht’s Master Plan Comes Into View
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Sure, an adult-table bastion of centrist upscale cable news sounds fantastic, especially since Fox News and MSNBC have totally abdicated the middle. But can it still be done, and will it rate?
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When Ted Turner launched CNN in 1980, giving birth to the 24-hour news cycle that would eventually re-orient the media industry, bestowing us MSNBC and Fox News in the process, he did so with the lofty, quixotic ambition of bringing people closer together. “We hope,” he said at the network's launch in Atlanta, “that the Cable News Network, with its international coverage and greater-depth coverage, will bring, both in the country and in the world, a better understanding of how people from different nations live and work together, and within the nation work together, so that we can perhaps, hopefully, bring together in brotherhood and kindness and friendship and in peace the people of this nation and this world.” Sure, the commentary manifested Turner’s slightly dippy, Brown alumni side, but it wasn’t some genetically modified corporate pablum. To drive the point home, Turner had the flag of the United Nations raised alongside those of the United States and the state of Georgia.
In the four decades since, CNN has certainly succeeded in becoming the leading global news network, with a far larger footprint than any of its rivals. In that regard, at least, CNN has provided people around the world with a shared record of the day's news, and a common perspective on historical events for anyone who cares to watch.
But here in the United States, CNN’s quest to foster brotherhood and friendship among citizens has proved elusive. For one thing, Turner’s proclamation was granted in simpler, pre-omni-channel times...
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FOUR STORIES WE'RE TALKING ABOUT
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The Dave-Oz Implosion
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The two megarich MAGA poseurs may have beat each other into submission—and handed the race to someone else.
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TINA NGUYEN
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The Putin Bildungsroman
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Putin’s rough-and-tumble childhood in the dvors of Leningrad shaped his thinking and actions to this day.
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JULIA IOFFE
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Politico's Inside Man
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Four reasons why the unprecedented SCOTUS leak likely came from a culprit beyond standard media speculation.
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ERIQ GARDNER
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Larry Ellison's Ascendance
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In his twilight years, the private-island-dwelling former Democrat has become a force in GOP political fundraising.
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THEODORE SCHLEIFER
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