Licht Literature 101

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Good evening, I’m Dylan Byers.

Welcome back to In The Room, my biweekly private email on the inner workings of the media industry. In tonight’s issue, a close look at the recent New York Times profile of CNN chief Chris Licht—a top-notch piece of reportage, yet one that seemed to gloss over various critical headwinds I’ve reported over the last year—with the assistance of a notable CNN alumnus.

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Licht Literature 101

A recent upbeat-ish Times profile on the new CNN chief revealed the depths of Zaz’s support, but was scant on future plans. Herewith, a close reading, with assistance from CNN kremlinologists.

DYLAN BYERS

Earlier this week, I received a call from a notable CNN alumnus whom I hadn’t spoken with in over a year, since Before Times—before the Warner Bros. Discovery merger, before the infamous John Malone musings, before the Zucker-Gollust-Kilar-Cuomo imbroglio, before the anointment of Chris Licht and the internal resistance to his leadership, and before the recent spate of layoffs. This source was intimately familiar with the head-spinning changes that the network had endured in that span of time.

It was, we agreed, one of the biggest media stories of our time, especially given the global power of the CNN brand, its unique ability to cover breaking events from around the world, and its vulnerability to inexorable...

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