On Wednesday, acclaimed journalist and former CBS correspondent Lara Logan appeared on Fox News’ “Hannity” and blasted CNN for its nakedl...
On Wednesday, acclaimed journalist and former CBS correspondent Lara Logan appeared on Fox News’ “Hannity” and blasted CNN for its nakedly partisan viewpoint, calling out CNN hosts Chris Cuomo and Don Lemon by asserting, “But I really want to know is, Don Lemon and Chris Cuomo, are they opinion hosts? Are these opinion shows or are these news programs?”
Hannity, noting the hard turn to the left taken by members of the Democratic Party while some media figures, including MSNBC’s Chris Matthews and CNN’s Don Lemon, have expressed seeming concern that the Democrats might veer so far that they would lose the 2020 election, began by saying, “We’ve lived through this before; it was called Barack Obamamania. The only difference now is that they’re pushing even harder to the Left. I don’t think you can stop that, do you?”
Logan focused not on the veer to the left by the Democratic Party, but instead the media figures who seemed clearly sympathetic toward the Democratic Party:
You know, Sean, I’m not a politician and I'm not a political reporter. I don’t know whether you can stop it or not. My concern as a journalist is trying to figure out what the facts are and trying to figure out what people are actually representing and what they are actually trying to do in the election. As journalists, it seems to me, you know, our job is to do that. That’s our duty. But I really want to know is, Don Lemon and Chris Cuomo, are they opinion hosts? Are these opinion shows or are these news programs? Because that is an important distinction. And what people tell me, American people, everywhere I go in this country, that is what they want to know. When they turn on the news, they want the facts. When they turn on an opinion show like yours, they want your opinion, right? So where do these people stand? Where does CNN stand?
Hannity acknowledged that his show sometimes covered hard news, other times did investigative work, and even covered sports and cultural issues, adding, “We’re like the whole newspaper. That’s my role in the press.”
Joe Concha, media reporter for The Hill, commented, “I can answer Lara Logan’s’s question, and that is on the CNN website, Cuomo and lemon are listed as anchors, and clearly they’re giving opinions. You just showed one."
Hannity said to Logan, “You were on 60 Minutes. I don’t see that any more; I don’t even see 60 Minutes as fair 'cause they take you for 15 hours and chop it down to 15 minutes. It’s called 'edited fake news.'”
Logan laughed, “Well, that happens, Sean, to everyone, I have to say, and Joe, that 'anchor' doesn’t answer my question, because as an organization, where does CNN stand? Have you taken a political position or have you not? The problem with what has been happening within the media, as far as I’m concerned, is that we claim the middle ground, we claim to be objective and we’re not. And that’s dishonest."
In late February, The Daily Wire reported that after having blasted many leftist journalists to "activists" and "propagandists,” Logan ripped members of the media on "Hannity,” saying CNN's Brian Stelter, The Huffington Post's Michael Calderon, and Joe Hagan from Vanity Fair had targeted her for daring to report accurately and drop leftist talking points. She stated:
It’s the same group of people; they’re already starting to target me again now. And I expected it. I was joking that I am braced for fire and fury, because I know they are going to come after me again, and I’m not the only one. I mean, the same people come after you, right? One of them: The Sparrow Project. I mean, this person was tweeting today: "Hannity, watch out about Lara Logan’s stuff." And there’s more coming. Michael Calderon, who was at The Huffington Post. I can literally give you the script now. I can tell you who the players are: Joe Hagan, Brian Stelter. I mean, it’s the same people all the time and they’re all saying the same things.
She added, “You know what is interesting, Sean? They cannot take down the substance of what you’re saying, right? They cannot go after the things that matter. So they smear you personally. They go after your integrity. They go after your reputation as a person and a professional. They will stop at nothing. I am not the only one."