As a public relations practitioner, if NBC News calls and asks to interview your client for a segment they call “The Fleecing of America,” do you jump at the chance?
If Anderson Cooper calls and asks your client to appear on a segment called “Keeping Them Honest,” do you say “yes, please.” In both cases I have learned the answer is probably no. It’s better to “take a pass on the opportunity.”
And so I wonder why CNN president and Connecticut native Chris Licht thought it would be a good idea to allow a reporter from The Atlantic to follow him around – behind the scenes – for a year as he took over the network.
The resulting article titled “Inside the Meltdown at CNN” seems to confirm the high risks involved in taking glasnost too far.
The latest profile only adds to the stream of similar stories that have been haunting Licht over the last year as he tries to re-invent the network. It is very clear he is trying, but he has also been dealt some unfortunate facts and circumstances. We are not sure things have truly “melted down,” but questions have been raised.
