i didn t even have all the questions. but it was the gift of a lifetime to get to confront these issues on international division w television. i know it is not partisan to stand up for decency and democracy and dialogue. it is not partisan to stand up to demagogues. it is patriotic. we must make sure we don t give platforms to those lying to our faces. but we must make sure that we re representing the full spectrum of debate and what is going on in the country and the world. that is doctor sis why cnn need strong and why cnn will always be strong. you viewers at home, it is on you. cnn must remain strong. i know the 4500 staffers will do their part to make it stronger than ever. but it is on you to hold cnn accountable. and not just cnn. you have to hold your local paper and local digital outlet accountable. we are all members of the media helping to make it better. that is what i believe.
axing your show? i don t know the answer to that. people might suspect it s political. he s a libertarian who believes in not paying tax it is he can avoid it. but he said he s not directly involved he did deny it. but then i think he s a businessman. he s looking at where the money and audience is. and the viewership on the left is split between cnn and msnbc, and the viewership on the right is all at fox news. they have a bigger audience, lots of money, and perhaps he s saying if we shift a little bit this way, maybe we ll get that, too. but he acknowledged in the meantime there s going to be the possibility of people leaving cnn, and the possibility that ratings go down. and there will be more change. i know i m going to be rooting for this place for the rest of my life. david, centrist. is there anything wrong with that word? it s a pretty innocent word. nothing wrong with it. but here s what happens.
now. eric, what would you add about the future of cnn? the problem is people put a political lens on something that is about preserving democracy and holding politicians accountable. when you have one politician denouncing the press as the enemy of the people, when you have one politician that insists he won an election he did not win, when you have one politician that is blaming immigrants for america s ills, you have to have a journalism apparatus that is free to call out those excesses, without fear of being accused of being unfair. and i think that s the problem. i hope that what we re not going to see cnn do is institute some sort of false equivalence, where the extremism of one party is balanced with the regular dysfunction of another party. we need to be free to call out when someone breaks the law,
expand the show into a podcast and more. and thank you to cnn s current boss for letting us say good-bye. thank you to everyone at cnn business for digital leadership. thank you to my hero executive producer, john and producing team that makes this possible. i will do whatever i can to help you all in the future. thank you to the technical staff, control room geniuses, floor directors, camera operators, makeup artists, you are cnn s sources of strength. and we need strength. some of you know i ve been a media junky for a long time. i was the kid who spent his days building a school website and tv show and i think i m still that kid. i never thought i d actually be on tv. i just liked writing about tv. i know this is going to sound like b.s., but i actually thought i didn t have enough hair to be on tv. i am just that kid who loves television and loves the internet.
message. i think it came to put demise. but this has been an ongoing love-hate test that started back in 2016 and when they quit having the president to beat on, use to numbers plummet because they don t have anything. they don t have a cause with the current demonstration to get excited about. so the one thing that kept their ratings was president trump. laura: that is gone. yes or no answers only. will cnn learn from this and become better jeffrey, yes or no? jeff: yes, with new ownership. laura: andre, yes or no? andre: yes. laura: wow, you are both optimistic. i hope you are right. gentlemen, thank you. ended up next, the covid chyrons that controlled public schools will not stop terrorizing your children. a shocking last fight next.