| CNN’s coverage of the Middle East was once “unparalleled”, writes James Ball in today’s Lightbulb. Take their scoops on Saudi Arabia’s slaying of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, for instance—while Donald Trump might still claim his pal, the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, “knew nothing” about the murder, CNN’s “forensic public interest reporting” indicated otherwise. But lately, Ball’s confidence in their journalism has been shaken by both CNN’s awkward embrace of “newsfluencers” and some questionable commercial relationships with Gulf petrostates. The latter includes a partnership with a subsidiary controlled by Abu Dhabi’s royal family, which has made some CNN journalists uncomfortable. The backdrop is the broadcaster’s potential sale, as its parent company Warner Bros is fought over by Netflix and Larry Ellison’s Paramount. Ellison’s bid was part-funded by the state investment companies of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi, reportedly thanks to some string-pulling by Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Kushner’s father-in-law has had less friendly tangles with CNN, trying repeatedly to sue the outlet for defamation (an appellate court in November described one such action as “meritless”. Ouch.) On a previous episode of Media Confidential, Alan Rusbridger and Lionel Barber asked CNN’s CEO Mark Thompson about such threats—it’s well worth a re-listen. When he’s not suing journalists for doing their jobs, Trump’s ambitions are increasingly extra-territorial. Andrew Adonis reminds us that US presidents meddling in Latin American politics is hardly novel, but argues Trump’s stated desire to seize Greenland surely would be. Europe needs a counter strategy, fast. Much of what underlies geopolitical machinations in both the Middle East and Latin America is, let’s face it, oil. But what if its importance in the global energy market is declining? On today’s episode of the Prospect Podcast, UK climate minister Ed Miliband and American environmental activism Bill McKibben speak to Wolfgang Blau about how the solar revolution is upending energy policy, the global economy and the geopolitical landscape. As the winter sun shines through our office window at Prospect HQ, melting the frost in St James’s Park, their discussion gives us a little hope amid an otherwise gloomy outlook. As always, email your thoughts to ben.clark@prospectmagazine.co.uk. |
| Benjamin ClarkHead of digital audience |