By Keach Hagey and Damian Paletta
Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law and close
adviser, met with a senior Time Warner Inc. executive in recent
weeks and expressed the administration's deep concerns about CNN's
news coverage, according to a White House official and other people
familiar with the matter.
In a meeting at the White House, Mr. Kushner complained to Gary
Ginsberg, executive vice president of corporate marketing and
communications at CNN's parent Time Warner, about what Mr. Kushner
feels is unfair coverage slanted against the president, the people
said.
The Trump administration's hostile posture toward the news
media, especially CNN, has been evident in the president's own
statements and those of his press secretary and top aides. On
Thursday, Mr. Trump lashed into CNN once again at a news
conference, calling it "very fake news" with expert commentary that
is "almost exclusively anti-Trump."
But the anti-CNN push isn't just a public display meant to rally
Mr. Trump's supporters. Behind the scenes, Mr. Kushner, the
real-estate scion who until recently owned the New York Observer
newspaper, has been pushing the issue with Time Warner executives
including CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker.
"Our journalism has never been stronger as we continue to hold
the administration's feet to the fire. Those are the facts," said a
CNN spokeswoman.
While the administration is battling a large swath of the media,
the fight with CNN has special intrigue because its parent company
has a massive piece of business awaiting government approval: a
proposed $85.4 billion sale to AT&T Inc. Messrs. Kushner and
Ginsberg, who have been friends for a decade and whose discussion
covered a variety of issues including Israel and the economy,
didn't discuss the merger in their recent meeting, said the people
familiar with the matter.
In the final stretch of the presidential campaign, Mr. Trump
said he would block the agreement and singled out the news network
in his statement. "AT&T is buying Time Warner, and thus CNN, a
deal we will not approve in my administration," he said. The deal
will be reviewed by government agencies including the Justice
Department.
Such rhetoric from a presidential then-candidate and meetings
such as the one between Messrs. Kushner and Ginsberg are unusual,
according to Mark Feldstein, journalism historian at the University
of Maryland.
"Lord knows that every president has been angered by their news
coverage, going back to George Washington," said Mr. Feldstein.
"But to engage in that kind of bare-knuckled tactics is
extraordinary."
Mr. Kushner has taken issue with specific CNN contributors
including Van Jones, a Democrat who served in the Obama
administration, and Ana Navarro, a Republican strategist, who have
each criticized Mr. Trump in harsh terms, the people familiar with
the matter said.
CNN's panels often include a few Mr. Trump supporters, such as
Reagan administration veteran Jeffrey Lord and conservative
commentator Kayleigh McEnany, a few critics, and journalists who
cover the administration.
The White House official said: "It's no secret that the
President and his team have been critical of CNN's dishonest
coverage of the President both during the campaign and since his
inauguration, and it's obvious their ratings have suffered as a
result. FOX on the other hand provides mostly fair, and more
complete coverage of the Administration and their ratings have
never been better."
The CNN spokeswoman said, "Once again, the White House has their
facts wrong. CNN's ratings are up 50%."
CNN's total day ratings are up 51% so far this year among adults
25 to 54 to 264,000 viewers, on average, while Fox News's are up
55% to 381,000 in the same demographic, according to Nielsen.
Fox-parent 21st Century Fox and Wall Street Journal-parent News
Corp share common ownership.
AT&T and Time Warner executives have pledged to defend CNN's
independence.
CNN's Mr. Zucker has a long history with Mr. Trump, having
helped turn him into a national television star by putting "The
Apprentice" on the air in 2004 while Mr. Zucker was president of
NBC Entertainment.
At Thursday's press conference, Mr. Trump referred to their
shared history, saying, "Ask Jeff Zucker how he got his job,
OK?"
People close to CNN believe Mr. Trump is referring to an
incident in 2012 when he suggested to former Time Warner executive
Phil Kent that Mr. Zucker would make a good leader for CNN. Mr.
Kent hired Mr. Zucker shortly afterward, but already had been
talking to him at the time Mr. Trump made the suggestion, the
people said.
A White House official declined to elaborate on the president's
comment.
Write to Keach Hagey at keach.hagey@wsj.com and Damian Paletta
at damian.paletta@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 16, 2017 20:11 ET (01:11 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Time Warner (NYSE:TWX)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Time Warner (NYSE:TWX)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024