A billionaire who has part ownership of CNN blasted the network as ‘too political’ and claimed the bias has dragged ratings into the gutter.
John Malone, a significant shareholder in CNN’s parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, shared his criticisms of the cable news network during an interview with Kara Swisher, who is also a CNN contributor.
The conversation, featured on Swisher’s podcast, revisited Malone’s earlier criticisms of CNN from 2021, during the merger of Warner Bros. and Discovery.
Back then, in comments to The New York Times, Malone said CNN didn’t focus enough on journalism, adding that it was a poor competitor to Fox News.
His opinion has even hardened with time as he insists CNN is ‘too political’ to compete with Fox and MSNBC.
When Swisher pointed out that Fox is just as political, Malone responded, ‘Yeah, but they don’t hold themselves to be all journalism.’
‘They portray themselves as journalism sometimes, but individuals like Sean Hannity openly acknowledge their biases, as do various quasi-celebrities with their specific show hours,’ Malone remarked.
‘Let’s be honest, when a comedian like Greg Gutfeld draws a large audience, and his political stance is clearly very right-wing, it raises questions,’ he continued.
John Malone, who holds a major stake in CNN’s parent Warner Bros. Discovery, commented during an interview with Kara Swisher that CNN is ‘too political’ to effectively compete with networks like Fox News and MSNBC.
Malone made the criticism of CNN on a Thursday episode of Kara Swisher’s podcast
Fox News consistently beats MSNBC and CNN in the ratings, as data from Adweek routinely show
‘Is it entertainment or news? In my opinion, it’s more entertainment. Most programs on Fox News aim to be controversial and humorous to maintain an audience, rather than striving for overwhelming factual accuracy,’ Malone commented.
Fox News consistently beats MSNBC and CNN in the ratings, as data from Adweek routinely show.
Swisher then asked Malone which CNN anchors he thought were biased, perhaps looking for a solution to the clear audience decline.
‘Look, the trouble with bias is it’s almost invisible. These are good people. These are people who believe they’re not biased,’ Malone said.
‘I mean, if you look at the political affiliations of the journalism industry, who they contribute to, who they register to vote with, okay, you’ll find damn few professional journalists on the right. Damn few,’ he added.
Swisher pointed out that exclusively right-wing networks are on the rise, such as One America News and Newsmax.
‘And yes, there is a rising group because there is a rising economic structure that’s willing to support it. I want a news service that not only serves the public, but makes us money,’ Malone said.
Malone describes himself as a libertarian and donated $250,000 to Donald Trump’s inauguration in 2017. He donated to many Republicans during the 2024 cycle as well, including Trump.
