cable news smackdown
Jeff Zucker slams Fox News as 'state-run TV'
CNN President Jeff Zucker isn't quite sure Fox News is an accurate name for his competitor's cable channel.
"The idea that it's a news channel, I think, is really not the case at all," Zucker said at an industry conference Thursday, per The Hollywood Reporter.
Those were reportedly some of Zucker's tamer words, as he went on to label Fox News a "complete propaganda machine" that does an "incredible disservice to this country." He even drew comparisons to Russia, calling Fox News "state-run TV."
Tucker didn't limit his comments to President Trump's network of choice; he spoke on the president too. Trump, Zucker said, "doesn't even understand the danger he's causing to journalists" by sowing "anti-media sentiment" — though late last year, he credited Trump with making "journalism great again."
But that's what makes today the "heyday of cable news," Zucker said — and everyone from CNN to Fox News is benefiting from it.