‘Worst Possible Move!’ CNN Insiders Revolt Over Plan To ‘Sideline’ Jim Acosta — Widely Seen As ‘Appeasing Trump’Tommy ChristopherJan 17th, 2025, 3:08 pm
Former CNN reporter Oliver Darcy reported Thursday that CNN Worldwide Chairman and CEO Mark Thompson called Acosta and “delivered the veteran journalist asudden and strange proposal: Move your show to midnight and anchor it until 2am ET.”Another source told him “They want to get rid of Acosta to throw a bone to Trump. Midnight is not a serious offer when his ratings are among the best on the network.”
Mediaite has confirmed the reporting. A person with knowledge of the situation saysAcosta expressed concern about the timing of the move in his conversations with executives — coming just before Trump’s inauguration. Trump clashed frequently with Acosta since Trump’s first term as president, and even lost a court battle when his administration tried to ban Acosta from the White House briefing room. (They miswrote this, “Acosta clashed frequently with Trump” and were hideously disrespectful to Trump constantly, he’s lucky to have any offer)
Now as the host of CNN Newsroom With Jim Acosta, he anchors a dayside news program that routinely outperforms even some primetime shows in the ratings, and which is known for not pulling punches — especially with Trump and Republicans. In interviews with multiple current CNN staffers and one who recently left the network, there is a near-unanimous belief that this is being done to appease Trump, and many feel the move is a “bad look” for the network — and likely to have a “chilling effect.”
One current CNN staffer told me a lot of people at CNN “were caught off guard by reports of this move and of course the timing.” “For one, Jim has not been part of the problem, he’s consistently delivering and holding his own at 10 am (and) has a loyal following,” the staffer said — and ratings data reviewed by Mediaite backs that up.
“Jim made a career and name for himself by asking tough questions(rude and disrespectful of anyone Conservative) and holding power to account. That included Trump. So it will be interesting to see if this kind of move has some sort of chilling effect or sends a message to other shows and EPs about how the network wants to engage with this new administration,” this staffer added. (All of them have lost ½ to 3/4s of their audiences in the last 5+ years, how much lower they can go, a lot)
“This is the worst possible move at the worst possible time,” another current CNN employee told me.“Staffers are baffled by this rumor. It seems like an attempt to appease Trump, who is never appeased by anything. Trump and his aides will celebrate if Acosta is sidelined.”
Another longtime current staffer speaking on condition of anonymity said the view thatthis is a capitulation to Trump is near-unanimous, and reaction among staff is strong that this story sends a bad message. “Jim has the support of many people who don’t want to see him moved to midnight,” the staffer said. “And it’s just a new element to this that people are upset, are just concerned about how it looks.”
This staffer said the concern is itlooks like “We’re being weak against the incoming president. And it’s a way to move Jim into a timeslot where he can’t be heard.”
One source who recently left the network said the move “surprised a lot of people” because Acosta has been “doing what Jim Acosta normally does, which is, hey, here’s what I’m going to do and nobody’s going to stop me from doing it, becausehe’s such a good reporter and he speaks truth. I don’t think he’s partisan(WTF???) as much as he is just the anchor of truth.”
The former CNNer continued:
I think it’s going to be shocking when when people begin to understand the implications of this. It is going to probablyturn off some viewers, even more so than CNN has already done, with the use of some pundits and analysts that are certainly biased. And it’s not going to help them gain additional viewership from a segment of society that I think they’re catering to.
The source added that if CNN really weren’t “kissing the ring, they would have eliminatedsome of the analysts they have on TV who are obviously providing misinformationto the viewership.”
But with all theangst behind the scenes, time will tell if any of Acosta’s colleagues step out of the shadows and speak out— a prospect that is widely seen by these sources as a tremendous risk. A CNN spokesperson declined to comment.
https://www.mediaite.com/news/worst-possible-move-cnn-insiders-revolt-over-plan-to-sideline-jim-acosta-widely-seen-as-appeasing-trump/?cfp