UNITED STATES—Talk about a media circus bloodbath on Monday, April 24. Whew that was the best way to describe what occurred with two of the biggest organizations when it comes to the media sphere. I’m referring to CNN and FOX News. Both organizations let go some massive media personalities that had everyone talking and I mean EVERYONE THAT I KNOW.
Fox News fired Tucker Carlson, who had one of the highest rated news programs on the network and through the country bringing in almost 3 million viewers each night during his show. Tucker was reportedly making over $20 million a year with the network. Little birdie mentioned that Carlson may have been making over $35 million a year with Fox News, but that hasn’t been confirmed. On the flipside of Tucker being let go, CNN announced less than an hour later the same day, that Don Lemon had been fired from the network after 17 years. Lemon was reportedly making $7 million a year with the network.
It was a double whammy in the same day. You absolutely had people who are liberals cheering for Carlson’s firing, just as you had people who are conservatives cheering for Lemon’s firing. No matter what political field you land on, you were talking about what transpired earlier this week people. I think the biggest question everyone wants to know, is WHY these two titans were let go. Was it chaos behind the scenes, friction with other media personalities at the networks, did the networks just want a clean slate, was it time for new blood?
Those theories will likely never be explored people. We know both Carlson and Lemon are known for controversies in recent months or years with their takes on plenty of hot button topics. I think the thing that a lot of people forget is that both Don Lemon and Tucker Carlson were pundits. They were getting paid by these networks to voice their stances on particular issues and a lot of the time to discuss them with panels and guest hosts.
Now Lemon, recently jumped to CNN’s rebranded morning show which was all about reporting the news, but as a viewer you still view him as a pundit who for years you listened to him express his views, the same with Carlson. That is probably the biggest issue with these news titans nowadays; people are focusing on listening to what THEY WANT TO HEAR vs. WHAT THEY NEED TO HEAR!
You cannot just cater your news to what makes you feel good and what you feel is right. If you do that you are completely ignoring another side. YOU NEED TO HEAR BOTH SIDES WHEN IT COMES TO THE POLITICAL ATMOSPHERE, but so many Americans refuse to do it. The media is not what it used to be. Many of these companies are bought by advertisers and they push the material and the content they feel suits their advertisers needs and suits their audience.
They don’t always care about reporting the truth in the news no matter how ugly or nasty it can be, and a lot of the time news is messy people, there is bad on both sides, the Republicans and the Democrats. Don’t place one on a pedestal because neither deserve to be there, but you cannot say that to so many Americans, because it becomes a never-ending fight people. Have these departures shaken up the big news titans?
Oh, without a doubt people and their will be ripple effects for the next few weeks and months to come. Do I expect both CNN and Fox News to bring in new faces? Without a doubt, that is what the media networks now rely on faces to push the content they want to push versus just focusing on reporting the news. A face reporting the news is just a face reporting the news; it’s the actual news that is reported that matters.
Written By Zoe Mitchell