Editor’s Pick: Former MSNBC Producer Calls Out CNN’s ‘Tabloid Tendencies’

The Monday Writing Challenge Columbia Journalism Review (CJR), former MSNBC producer Ariana Pekary took CNN to task for its divisive and unconstructive approach to news, calling the Jeffrey Zucker-led network one based on “exaggerated tone and graphic content” that’s placed it in “the realm of tabloid-like material” that does nothing to further the ideals of real journalism meant to serve the public good.

CNN’s public editor has been appointed. CJR, Pekary cited three stories and CNN’s framing of them before concluding that they’re not engaging in “ethical journalism” during “an era where” many have already “lost an understanding of what makes good journalism, not gossip, in TV news.”

Pekary also cited an excerpt from guidelines for reporters from the Society of Professional Journalists, including one bullet point saying they should “avoid pandering to lurid curiosity, even if others do.”

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