CNN finally admits that so much unfiltered Trump coverage was a mistake
There's less than a month to go until election night, and the head of one of the nation's largest TV news networks has admitted that it made a mistake in its coverage.
CNN perhaps aired too much of Republican nominee Donald Trump.
“If we made a mistake, [it was] we shouldn’t have put on as many [Trump] rallies as we did," CNN President Jeff Zucker told Washington Post political correspondent Lois Romano Friday, speaking at an event at Harvard Kennedy School's Institute of Politics.
You May Also Like
The reason seemed to be good entertainment.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
Zucker did not go so far to say that CNN helped push Trump to secure the nomination, yet he did tout that his network seemed to have a sense early on that Trump was going to be the Republican nominee.
He also noted that Trump made himself much more available than other candidates. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush both denied CNN interview requests for two months, according to Zucker. Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton was also much less available, he said.
"We wanted access and Donald Trump gave it to us," Zucker said.
Cable news channels have been under particular scrutiny for how much coverage has been dedicated to Trump, particularly the many rallies he has held. One media analysis firm put the value of the overall time dedicated to Trump at around $3 billion.
CNN has also come under fire for employing former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, who has become one of Trump's most ardent supporters on the channel.
Zucker may have admitted a mistake, but that doesn't mean CNN is about to change.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
Topics Donald Trump Elections
Kerry Flynn is a business reporter for Mashable covering the tech industry. She previously reported on social media companies, mobile apps and startups for International Business Times. She has also written for The Huffington Post, Forbes and Money magazine. Kerry studied environmental science and economics at Harvard College, where she led The Harvard Crimson's metro news and design teams and played mellophone in the Band. When not listening to startup pitches, she runs half-marathons, plays with puppies and pretends to like craft beer.
