A recent story from Paul Farhi of The Washington Post has caught the ire of NewsNation host Dan Abrams.
Farhi profiled the fledgling cable news network and its chase for viewership. In his story, Farhi detailed how many of the hosts and those working behind the scenes at NewsNation came to the network with “baggage”, like Chris Cuomo, Chris Stirewalt, and Michael Corn, among others.
Abrams took issue with the premise of the story and felt he was misled into participating.
“He reached out claiming he had ‘no particular angle in mind at this point, just what is NewsNation and what’s it trying to do? How does it fit into the cable satellite news ecosystem?’” Abrams said.
“I generally liked his work, so I agreed to do an interview and presumed he’d be doing a big-picture piece about the mission of this network and the results so far. And there’s no doubt that any fair piece would say that when it comes to ratings ‘We still have a ways to go to catch up with Fox and MSNBC.’”
That encapsulation could be viewed as favorable to the network on which Abrams hosts. NewsNation’s highest-rated programs are re-runs of the CBS primetime cop show Blue Bloods. Its news programs routinely draw around 100,000 viewers, paling in comparison to even “ratings challenged” CNN.
The Dan Abrams Live host also took issue with the characterization that Chris Cuomo was a “disgraced” anchor.
“It was chock full of personal attacks and references to ‘disgraced this and that’ from someone who clearly doesn’t like Chris,” Abrams said.
Cuomo departed CNN in 2021 after it was revealed he participated in “strategic discussions” with his brother — former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) — during a sexual harassment scandal. It was later uncovered that Cuomo used his contacts in the media to gather information on his brother’s accusers. In addition to his dismissal at CNN, Cuomo was also accused of sexual misconduct during his time at the network.
The Washington Post article also took umbrage with NewsNation’s insistence on “non-partisanship”, noting that a network featuring Bill O’Reilly as a contributor would be hard-pressed to claim it was unbiased.
Abrams admitted the network has struggled with viewership, but claimed it is a lengthy proposition to build an audience.
“It takes time to establish brand recognition and trust,” said Abrams, while detailing NewsNation’s ratings gains in 2022. “But based on the direction we are going compared to the other three networks, it sure seems like any objective observer would say it appears to be working.”
