SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT: 

ANOTHER GENIUS AMONG US – OVERNIGHT:  THE DYING CNN NEEDS GREAT LEADERSHIP.  UH, YOU THINK THIS CHAP QUALIFIES?  FROM FOX:  The boss of CNN's new parent company said on Friday the network was "the leader in news to the left" – but his communications team soon scrambled to walk back the frank admission, insisting he wasn’t talking about politics.  Discovery CEO David Zaslav, whose media giant is set to close its merger with CNN’s owner WarnerMedia this spring, made the surprise remark during a discussion about the network’s future – days after the abrupt resignation of the network’s president, Jeff Zucker.  "We have this great entertainment menu, which should keep people in the home, from the kids to the grandparents. Why would they go anywhere else? And then we’re the leader in news to the left," Zaslav told CNBC on Friday.  I guess it's wishful thinking to believe that CNN will suddenly be raised from the ashes.  Any visionary would understand that there are actually ashes.  There used to be statesmen and stateswomen of journalism who could be called upon to save an institution.  Most of them are long gone.

February 4, 2022