CNN anchor Jake Tapper agrees with the criticism that his colleague, prime-time anchor Chris Cuomo, screwed up. Boy, does he agree. "I cannot imagine a world in which anybody in journalism thinks that that was appropriate," said Tapper on Kara Swisher's New York Times podcast. "And he said, Chris, in his apology that he delivered on air, said that he put us in a bad spot. And I would also agree with that."
Recent revelations about Cuomo have extended a long-running media story. When his brother, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, found himself enmeshed in sexual-harassment and covid-related scandals starting in late January, Chris Cuomo's show was silent -- even though he'd interviewed his brother in a series of backslapping interviews early last year, when all was good with the governor. CNN was forced to concede that it had suspended its conflict-of-interest prohibition on Cuomo-on-Cuomo journalism in those early pandemic months.
Then The Washington Post reported that Chris Cuomo had participated in strategy sessions with Andrew Cuomo and his advisers. The younger Cuomo counseled the governor to plow through the sexual-harassment allegations and used the term "cancel culture" to describe the bind in which the older Cuomo found himself.
Last Thursday night, Chris Cuomo issued the on-air apology referenced by Tapper. "It was a mistake because I put my colleagues here, who I believe are the best in the business, in a bad spot. I never intended for that, I would never intend for that, and I am sorry for that," Cuomo said.
The fundamentals of the whole mess are damning for Cuomo and his bosses: First the double standard on covering the governor, then the breathtaking violation of journalism ethics. If there's any upside to the scandal, however, it's the network's handling of it: An official statement fully acknowledged that Chris Cuomo's conduct was inappropriate; Cuomo's apology was extensive and genuine; CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker took a question about the matter at a town hall meeting on Tuesday, an important element of accountability; and Tapper, one of the network's marquee personalities, has lent his voice to the criticism. Perhaps others in the company will now feel emboldened to voice their own takes -- and even demand an explanation for why Chris Cuomo's advice to his brother appeared disrespectful to the women who'd come forward.
On another item of significant ethical dispute in TV journalism, Tapper talked about all those lying Republicans. His shows have abjured discussing contemporary issues with GOP politicians who promoted the "big lie" that the presidential election was stolen from former president Donald Trump. Tapper:
"I have not booked, since the election, anyone who's engaged in these lies. I just, I haven't. It's not a policy but it's a philosophy where I just don't want to deal with it. I don't want to deal and it really saddens me because there are Republican members of Congress with whom I respect, or formerly did. And there's too many important things to deal with right now in terms of what's going on in the Middle East or in Africa or in Myanmar or China or Russia. And, also, if you're willing to lie about that, what else are you willing to lie about? And why should my viewers listen to you?"
That's a principled position, though it runs the risk of letting the bad-faith set off the hook. I favor inviting these folks for interviews and frontloading the election-lie questions. If that approach doesn't fetch a retraction from the interviewee, simply refuse to move on to other topics.
The rest of Swisher's interview with Tapper is worth checking out as well, including the lightly covered matter of whether on-air facial expressions betray a cable-news host's innermost feelings. The discussion comes as part of the rollout for Tapper's latest novel, "The Devil May Dance" -- just another example of how book tours have become a critical element of big-media transparency.
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Erik Wemple writes for The Washington Post.