Journalist Eliana Johnson reportedly just accepted the editor-in-chief role for the conservative Washington Free Beacon, and by leaving her Politico White House reporting job, this disqualified her as a CNN contributor, according to a CNN spokesman.
When Buzzfeed reporter Matt Berman tweeted his article saying “CNN Is Not Renewing A Political Reporter’s TV Deal After She Got A New Job Running A Conservative News Site,” a CNN spokesman responded: “This framing is misleading. Eliana is still a CNN contrib & will remain one through Nov. We signed her because, as you put it, ‘she was a top White House reporter’ who was ‘breaking significant news.’ She’s now pursuing a different career path and off that beat. Simple as that.”
The CNN spokesman declined to comment when contacted by Fox News reporter Brian Flood.
Johnson, who had previously worked for the conservative publication National Review, replied back to the CNN spokesman: “I didn’t realize becoming the first female editor-in-chief of a conservative news site was ‘pursing a different career path,’” Johnson tweeted. “I’ll still be in the newsbreaking business. And perhaps even covering the White House.”
I didn’t realize becoming the first female editor-in-chief of a conservative news site was “pursing a different career path.” I’ll still be in the newsbreaking business. And perhaps even covering the White House.
— Eliana Johnson (@elianayjohnson) September 6, 2019
In his BuzzFeed article, Johnson told Berman,“CNN has a right to tap or drop contributors at any point,” Johnson said. “None of us is entitled to a contract renewal.”
President Donald Trump and many of his supporters have been critical of CNN’s coverage as biased against conservatives.
“CNN executives have publicly committed to having political diversity on air, and the network has had a host of pro-Trump and conservative voices across its programming, as well as explicitly anti-Trump and liberal ones,” Berman reported. “But the network has dropped some pro-Trump contributors this year, and the Hollywood Reporter reported it has “benched” two other high-profile Trump backers who still work as contributors. The network has other conservatives as regular on-air contributors, including Mary Katharine Ham, who has written for several conservative outlets, and Rich Lowry, who is the editor of National Review.”
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