On Friday, “The Atlantic” published an in-depth profile of Chris Licht, the beleaguered (and now former) CEO of CNN. Reaction among media observers was unanimous and savage, not to mention overblown. Licht certainly came off as tone-deaf and in-over-his-head in parts of the story. But he also seemed to be one of the few people in the room who understood how deeply the network had damaged its reputation. If the anchors and reporters interviewed exhibited any awareness of this, they appeared more interested in attacking the messenger than fixing the problem. That struck me as stranger than anything Licht said or did. 

So that was my impression of the profile. Because coverage on the subject has been so universally shallow (every story giddily mentions something Licht said about his predecessor during a workout), I haven’t been able to link to a piece about it until now. Today’s column by David A. Graham details why Licht’s vision for CNN — and therefore Licht — was destined to fail. Graham’s premise boils down to the idea that Licht wanted to build a down-the-middle news network for political junkies. But down-the-middle voters don’t care about politics the way the right and the left do. It’s not a part of their identities. As such, Licht was chasing a market that simply doesn’t exist. Since moderate voters temper the impulses of the far left and far right, their low audience numbers struck some as troubling. Graham makes the convincing case, however, that this lack of an audience doesn’t signify a lack of engagement. After all, around 10 million people watch cable news each night. 155 million voted in the 2020 election. That’s an astounding disparity… and a useful reminder of what a fishbowl the political media sphere is. 

It’s worth remembering Licht never fully implemented his vision of a centrist CNN. His missteps got him fired long before any conclusive ratings could come in. Regardless, I’m oddly heartened by the idea that his vision would have failed because the audience he had in mind would have been too busy living its life. That’s a hopeful thought, and one I’ll try to remember as we enter the heated presidential campaign season.