Good afternoon, I’m Dylan Byers.

Welcome back to In The Room, my biweekly private email on the inner workings of the media industry. Today, we turn our attention back to CNN, a network of remnant Zuckerites who still feel an intense, and at times histrionic, agita over Chris Licht’s decision to “lead from behind.”

As a reminder, I’ll be discussing this piece and more in a private phone call with Puck Inner Circle members at 4 p.m. ET, along with my colleague Bill Cohan. For more information about Inner Circle membership, or about membership in general, you can click here or reach out to fritz@puck.news.

When Tapper returned to Lavendera, just before 4:40 p.m. ET, after a commercial break, the correspondent relayed the heartbreaking news that at least 14 children had been killed. By that point the broadcast networks, which tend to lag far behind cable on breaking news stories, had already broken into special coverage. On an editorial call the next morning, Licht commended his staff for getting to the story early—the sort of supportive bearing that befits Licht’s reputation as a thoughtful and affable leader who, less than a month into a huge job, is still trying to cool nerves and gracefully align his charges in a burgeoning new era. But the widespread sentiment among many of those listening in was that the network had been late to the story, and that this wouldn’t have happened under Jeff Zucker.

This sequence of events is the kind of thing that matters to virtually no one outside of CNN. In an era of push notifications and social media, when fewer and fewer people are watching television news, it’s hardly relevant whether CNN cuts into rolling coverage of a major breaking news event minutes before or after the competition. And it’s certainly and entirely irrelevant to the real story, which is the horrific and unspeakable tragedy itself. And yet, inside CNN, this can become the sort of flash point that garners attention and leads at least six different people, including anchors, on-air talent, show producers and digital reporters, to wring their hands, question the state of the network, and pick up the phone to contact a media reporter...