CNN needs to cut ties with its newly hired GOP operative—and now
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Campaign Action Every news organization makes mistakes. Journalism is an imperfect craft and is sometimes practiced at a breakneck pace. The question is: What do news outlets do when confronted with overwhelming evidence that they messed up? That’s the chCNN needs to cut ties with its newly hired GOP operative—and now
Campaign Action Every news organization makes mistakes. Journalism is an imperfect craft and is sometimes practiced at a breakneck pace. The question is: What do news outlets do when confronted with overwhelming evidence that they messed up? That’s the challenge CNN now faces in the wake of its extraordinary and inexplicable decision to hire a career GOP operative with absolutely no journalism experience as its new political director. Owning up to mistakes is even tougher when management makes them, and these are mistakes that clearly played out over a weeks-long hiring process. News organizations don't hire highly paid political directors on a whim. The current controversy was sparked when Sarah Isgur was tapped by CNN to help oversee the network's unfolding campaign coverage. A hardcore partisan, Isgur has spent her career flacking for Republicans such as Ted Cruz, Mitt Romney, and Carly Fiorina. Until last year, Isgur worked as a spokesperson for then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ Department of Justice. If CNN wants to hire conservatives like Isgur to go on camera and regurgitate Trump White House talking points, that's the network's prerogative. But to hire someone with Isgur's journalism-free resume to work behind the scenes and oversee campaign coverage is utterly baffling. «Her Twitter includes fact-free invectives against liberals and repeatedly rails against the ‘abortion industry,’» the Daily Beast noted. To maintain its reputation as an independent source of political news, CNN needs to cut ties with Isgur and admit that her hiring was a mistake. Otherwise, it's going to be difficult for Democrats to trust CNN this campaign season. And here’s a suddenly relevant question: Should the Democratic National Committee rethink the idea of CNN hosting upcoming debates for Democratic candidates? Read more