Is this like the Dallas season-ending cliff-hanger where millions wondered Who Shot J R, only to discover that it was all a dream? Will we awaken from this nightmare to discover that CNN is still a responsible, go-to news source?
Look at this fromTV Newser (a television trade pub.):
CNN Removes iReport Saying Missouri Patrol Captain is Gang Member
A CNN iReport that mistook a fraternity hand sign Missouri Patrol Captain Ron Johnson made for him being a gang member has been taken down. The Washington Post reports the iReport suggested Johnson was making hand signals members of the group the Bloods use (shown below). Captain Ron Johnson throws up "gang signs?" Really @CNN? You're just gonna leave that up?http://t.co/DSLFprbHv1 pic.twitter.com/jAUN8qIIgH - DJ Digital (@callmeDjDigital) August 19, 2014 The sign is actually the... read more>>
Two summers ago, when, in my judgment, the news channel was still salvageable, I opined in some detail, How to Fix CNN.
Now, I'm less sure that it can be restored to its previous luster. There's been a lot of neglect. Back then, they had simply lost their way, and the channel's IQ tumbled. Fox and MSNBC had "middled" them. Not an insurmountable problem. Just find the breadcrumbs and get back on the path of smart, fair, informative journalism, minus the polemics of the other two. It's what God and Ted intended. But then they replaced the president, Jon Klein, with Jeff Zucker, famous for morning shows that masquerade as news. (OK, that charade was over some years ago. Nobody at Today or GMA currently pretends they're anything but tabloid fare for 25-54 women.) Mr. Zucker appears to have brought that same non-news sensibility to CNN. The most recent manifestation of their flirtation with Ready-Fire-Aim news is this sad chapter of casting aspersions at the Missouri Highway Patrol's Captain Ron Johnson, outwardly at least, the only character in the Ferguson drama who seems to genuinely have empathy, a working moral compass, and an informed, workable plan.
If it's all a bad dream, maybe I'll awaken to find CNN is reliable news source, and if I'm really lucky, I'll never have heard of Ferguson, Missouri, because Michael Brown will still be alive.