‘Paid By MSNBC’: CNN Exec Torches ‘Shameful’ Jen Rubin Op-Ed Calling For Amanpour to Replace Licht

After Washington Post columnist and MSNBC contributor Jennifer Rubin called for the ouster of CNN chief Chris Licht over the network’s town hall with Donald Trump, one of the network’s communications executives hit back in a scathing statement.

Matt Dornic, the head of strategic communications for CNN Worldwide, blasted Rubin in a statement posted to Twitter, blasting the suggestion Licht be replaced and her calling CNN a laughingstock “shameful.”

“In criticizing ‘CNN of 2023,’ you linked to two articles — one from 2019 and another from 2020,” Dornic wrote. He continued by emphasizing an increase in news reporting at the network as well as the fact that Rubin is a contributor at MSNBC, a CNN competitor.

Neither is relevant to your argument as those commentators, along with dozens of paid contributors, have departed in favor of a [news] packages over punditry position. In fact, we are airing 30% more traditional news packages from our correspondents today than a year ago. And with all due respect, someone paid by MSNBC ought to not throw stones about panelists and the hiring of former WH aides.

You are entitled to your opinion but it is reckless and offensive to label the thousands of CNN employees who work tirelessly around the world as a “laughingstock” because you disagree with the merits of a single event or a few high-profile decisions made by leadership. That’s not championing journalism. It’s shameful.

Rubin’s op-ed, titled, “CNN needs a new chief. Here’s the ideal candidate,” condemned Licht’s decision to host a town hall with Trump, who had just been found liable for the sexual abuse and defamation of writer E. Jean Carroll.

The decision to host Trump and the way the town hall was conducted sparked controversy. Many outside and even inside the network voiced criticism of the event.

Rubin called the town hall “calamitous and widely panned” and said it “personified much of what is wrong with the mainstream media,” including sensationalism, passivity, and the “normalization of lying and political extremism.”

She mused: “Why isn’t someone who was there at CNN’s founding and who understands the true mission of journalism running the show — literally?” and declared that Christiane Amanpour would be an excellent choice to replace Licht.

Rubin cited Amanpour’s graduation speech at Columbia Journalism School, in which the CNN icon expressed stunningly candid criticism of the network’s town hall.

“If not Amanpour, CNN — and all news outlets — should be run by a player-turned-coach, someone who played the ‘game’ at a high level and understands truth is the objective of journalism, first and foremost,” Rubin wrote.

Rubin contended that Licht, who is a veteran of cable news and broadcast television, is not the right “respected journalist” for the job.