{"id":19366,"date":"2025-10-28T01:48:41","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T01:48:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/19366\/"},"modified":"2025-10-28T01:48:41","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T01:48:41","slug":"cnn-boss-order-on-east-wing-demolition-coverage-leaves-staffers-taken-aback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/19366\/","title":{"rendered":"CNN boss’ order on East Wing demolition coverage leaves staffers ‘taken aback’"},"content":{"rendered":"

CNN staffers were reportedly \u201ctaken aback\u201d when their boss urged them to \u201cease up\u201d on covering President Trump\u2019s demolition of the East Wing <\/a>after the network exec paid a rare visit to the White House.<\/p>\n

CNN head Mark Thompson told staffers on an editorial call on Thursday that CNN\u2019s viewership isn\u2019t all that interested in the story, two people familiar with the matter told the Status newsletter.<\/p>\n

Staffers reportedly took the comment from Thompson, who usually avoids getting into the weeds of editorial decisions, as \u201cbizarre.\u201d<\/p>\n

CNN head Mark Thompson told staffers on an editorial call on Thursday that CNN\u2019s viewership isn\u2019t all that interested in the story, two people familiar with the matter told the Status newsletter. Nathan Posner \/ Shutterstock<\/p>\n

CNN journalists were said to be \u201csuspicious\u201d of the timing of Thompson\u2019s alleged comments \u2014 which came as Trump rapidly cleared the way for a $300 million ballroom where the East Wing used to be \u2014 according to Status. Staffers were reportedly left wondering \u201cwhat coverage might be discouraged next.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Warner Bros. Discovery-owned news channel pushed back on the report from the Status newsletter<\/a> over the weekend, saying there was \u201czero truth\u201d to the reporting.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is reckless and irresponsible conjecture without any fact checking prior to publication,\u201d a CNN spokesperson told The Post.<\/p>\n

The network representative confirmed that Thompson visited the White House on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Thompson told staffers on an editorial call on Thursday that CNN\u2019s viewership isn\u2019t all that interested in the White House demolition story, two people familiar with the matter told the Status newsletter. AP<\/p>\n

According to Status, Thompson was at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. to introduce the network\u2019s new direct-to-consumer streaming product<\/a>, which is set to launch next week. It was not immediately known whom he met there.<\/p>\n

Thompson \u2014 the former BBC and New York Times head who was tapped by WBD CEO David Zaslav to lead the struggling cable channel out of the ratings wilderness \u2014 wants to adopt a \u201cbig tent approach\u201d to programming the new streaming service, according to Status.<\/p>\n

The company is said to be keen on avoiding the disastrous fate that befell its previous streaming platform, CNN+, the brainchild of former CNN boss Jeff Zucker. The app was offed following the merger between Warner Media and Discovery.<\/p>\n

Last week\u2019s White House confab raised eyebrows in light of the fact that CNN\u2019s corporate parent recently put itself up for sale after receiving several bids.<\/p>\n

Trump is tearing down the East Wing of the White House in order to make way for a ballroom. AP<\/p>\n

The Post reported last week that the Trump administration<\/a> wants to see Paramount Skydance, which is owned by the son of Trump backer Larry Ellison, acquire Warner Bros. Discovery.<\/p>\n

Other companies that are said to be in the bidding mix include Netflix, Amazon and Comcast.<\/p>\n

If Warner Bros. Discovery is sold off, Thompson is fully aware that his days as CNN president are numbered, according to Status.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen that happens, Mark is out,\u201d a confidant was quoted as telling Status.<\/p>\n

CNN has had a historically contentious relationship with Trump, who has denounced the network as \u201cfake news\u201d while openly sparring with current and former star correspondents such as Kaitlin Collins and Jim Acosta.<\/p>\n

President Trump has had a historically contentious relationship with CNN. Francis Chung \u2013 Pool via CNP\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Last week\u2019s reported snafu over White House demolition coverage wasn\u2019t the first time Thompson told CNN staffers to temper their criticisms of Trump.<\/p>\n

In January, he told more than 100 journalists<\/a> and top on-air talent including Jake Tapper and Anderson Cooper to avoid \u201cpre-judging\u201d Trump while covering the inauguration<\/a>, according to Status.<\/p>\n

Thompson is said to have told his charges that they should avoid \u201cexpressing any outrage of their own\u201d while also taking pains not to \u201crelitigate the past,\u201d the newsletter reported.<\/a><\/p>\n

A CNN spokesperson declined to comment on the Status report from January. The Post has sought comment from the White House.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CNN staffers were reportedly \u201ctaken aback\u201d when their boss urged them to \u201cease up\u201d on covering President Trump\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19367,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[288,5058,153,13283,1208,9,11,10,1069,5561],"class_list":["post-19366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-business","tag-cnn","tag-donald-trump","tag-mark-thompson","tag-media","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-trump","tag-white-house"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19366\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}