Dan Gainor: Cuomos and CNN – how low can network's credibility go amid brothers' scandals?
Journalists love a good political scandal. It’s just rare for them to volunteer to be part of it
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Journalists love a good political scandal. It’s just rare for them to volunteer to be part of it.
Then there’s CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, the unimpressive younger brother of New York Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo. It was revealed last week that the "journalist" was advising his scandal-plagued older brother about how to handle extensive sexual harassment allegations. The result was a journalism and public relations disaster.
Flight had its Wright Brothers. Politics and Media have their Wrong Brothers. Given the Cuomos’ leftist politics, you can make your own Marx Brothers joke here: _______.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}TIM GRAHAM: MEDIA DISSES MANCHIN – MAVERICKS ONLY LOVED IF REPUBLICAN. LOOK HOW THEY COVERED McCAIN
The Washington Post broke the story about the latest in a parade of Cuomo scandals. It’s easy to lose track – from Chris threatening to throw a critic down a set of stairs to brother Andrew’s deadly handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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CNN kept allowing brother Chris to promote brother Andrew during the pandemic. The network turned what’s supposed to be a journalism program into something completely different. In one memorable incident, Chris whipped out a giant swab and asked his brother, "is it true that when you are having the test administered, you inhaled and the doctor's finger went all the way up your nose and got stuck and it had to be released with a tool?"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}It was only natural that level of journalism devolved into political hackery. Chris, who has often been tagged as the Fredo of the family, decided to be his brother’s keeper. And, Lord knows, he needs one. But neutral journalists usually balk at giving crisis communications advice to accused sex harassers.
The advice fiasco wasn’t even the only scandal the two brothers were ensnared in last week. The New York Times reported that federal prosecutors are investigating "whether Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s administration granted special access to rapid coronavirus test results" for Chris and the rest of the governor’s family.
Post media critic Erik Wemple said Cuomo "got caught violating one of journalism’s clearest ethical red lines."
But all of that pales when compared to sex harassment. At least 10 women have made allegations against the governor, including one current aide. Women who work with his brother might be less than thrilled about CNN’s lax attitude toward such behavior.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The CNN anchor was skewered for violating journalism ethical rules. The liberal Poynter Institute for Media Studies roasted CNN and Cuomo terming it "a conflict of interest that has been more than a year in the making."
The telling line was calling what he did "highly inappropriate for a journalist." It was almost like Poynter's Tom Jones wanted to put "for a journalist" in mocking air quotes … like he doesn’t believe Cuomo deserves the descriptor. But then, who does?
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Post media critic Erik Wemple said Cuomo "got caught violating one of journalism’s clearest ethical red lines." The New York Times was a little more subtle. "The episode has – once again – raised questions about Chris Cuomo’s ability to host a flagship cable news program while his brother is a key figure in several major political stories," wrote media correspondent Michael M. Grynbaum.
The best response Chris’s employer CNN could muster was to call what he did "inappropriate." Senior media reporter Oliver Darcy was designated to whitewash the fiasco. He outdid himself, noting, "The revelation that Cuomo had advised his brother vexed staffers inside CNN." Wow, vexed? Why not miffed or even peeved?
For his part, Chris Cuomo apologized and described his position as "I am family first, job second." Anyone who watched his pathetic interviews with his brother knows that. Yet, CNN allowed them because they were promoting the governor as a potential back-up candidate to then-candidate Joe Biden.
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The Post noted on May 12 something viewers have been saying for many years, how "The new CNN is more opinionated and emotional. Can it still be ‘the most trusted name in news’?" So none of this should be surprising – especially CNN refusing to discipline Chris for the incident.
Before this story broke, Chris mocked Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, saying, "This man is proof that politics makes you stupid." This was a classic self own, since politics is the Cuomo family business. Maybe Chris could read a book on politics – like one of those his brother has written.
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