Of course CNN invited Corey Lewandowski on the air
How cable news became about show business, not journalism
It's no surprise that CNN was one of the first stops Corey Lewandowski made after a contempt-filled appearance Tuesday before Congress. Lewandowski, President Trump's former campaign manager, is evidently a showman; CNN likes to put on a show. The pairing — right after Lewandowski more or less conceded that he lies to the press — was inevitable.
You would think that Lewandowski's too-cute half-admission before Congress — "I have no obligation to be honest with the media" — would earn him a ban from CNN's airwaves. After all, CNN is supposedly in the news business, an industry focused on eliciting the truth and delivering it to viewers. Why put Lewandowski on your airwaves if you know his goal is probably to deceive your viewers?
CNN can claim it did its journalistic job by challenging Lewandowski during his Wednesday appearance on the channel. "Are you lying now?" Alisyn Camerota asked him.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"I'm as honest as I can be with you, Alisyn," Lewandowski responded.
Again: Too cute.
What did CNN viewers actually learn from the encounter? Nothing new. But in exchange, Lewandowski, who is considering a run for Senate in New Hampshire, got something he wanted: attention. And CNN got something it wanted, too, although it wasn't anything like the truth. Instead, it got a moment. Confronting Lewandowski was great TV. The performance was what mattered most.
This is not a broadside against "the media." Partisans of every stripe like to gripe about the media, but their criticisms are usually broad and shallow. "The media" is a bunch of different publications and outlets, all with differing missions and techniques. A local paper is different from a regional newspaper, which is different from a national newspaper — but all of those publications have more in common with one another than they do with cable TV news.
Newspapers are imperfect, and some — like The New York Times — come in for almost daily criticism of every news and editorial decision they make. But newspapers are usually substantive: If you're going to learn what happened during your local city council meeting, it is probably going to be in the paper and almost nowhere else. That's a valuable, if occasionally boring, public service.
Cable news in the 21st century doesn't have time for boring.
That's why you have the holograms, the "breaking news" alerts for stories that aren't all that breaking or newsworthy, the panels of pundits shouting at each other. Fundamentally, this is show business more than it is journalism. Spectacle matters — a lot. And that makes it difficult, sometimes, to get a handle on what is happening on screen. Did CNN's Camerota actually take a stand against Lewandowski's fundamental untruthfulness? Or was she just being performative? In other words: Was she being a journalist? Or was she simply participating in show business?
The distinction matters. Sometimes the imperatives of show business align with truth-telling, but often they don't. CNN boss Jeff Zucker's career has taken him from news to entertainment — he was running NBC when The Apprentice was a hit for the network and offered Trump a launching pad for his political career. (It's nearly impossible to imagine an editor getting a top newspaper job after years spent greenlighting sitcoms.) When CNN gave Trump hours of free airtime during the 2016 campaign, it did so for the same reason Gary Busey guest-starred on The Celebrity Apprentice: Viewers ate it up.
Cable news outlets didn't just enable Trump's rise. They're positively Trumpian. Like the president, channels like CNN often seem more interested in popularity and spectacle than in solving problems or doing the right thing. With that understanding, Lewandowski's appearance on CNN was foreordained.
Roughly a third of all Americans get their news from cable television. It is troubling to consider how democracy might be distorted when a prime source of information — and social media shares this characteristic with cable news — is more likely to quicken your pulse than enlighten your views.
Want more essential commentary and analysis like this delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for The Week's "Today's best articles" newsletter here.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Joel Mathis is a freelance writer who has spent nine years as a syndicated columnist, co-writing the RedBlueAmerica column as the liberal half of a point-counterpoint duo. His work also regularly appears in National Geographic, The Kansas City Star and Heatmap News. His awards include best online commentary at the Online News Association and (twice) at the City and Regional Magazine Association.
-
Duchess of Gloucester: the hard-working royal you've never heard of
Under The Radar Outer royal 'never expected' to do duties but has stepped up to the plate
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Are 'judge shopping' rules a blow to Republicans?
Today's Big Question How the abortion pill case got to the Supreme Court
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Climate change is driving Indian women to choose sterilization
under the radar Faced with losing their jobs, they are making a life-altering decision
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Xi-Biden meeting: what's in it for both leaders?
Today's Big Question Two superpowers seek to stabilise relations amid global turmoil but core issues of security, trade and Taiwan remain
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published