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Bomb threat at CNN New York studios


T.L. Hughes

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CNN's New York studios at Time Warner Center were evacuated this morning, following the discovery of a suspicious package in the building's mailroom. CNN president Jeff Zucker wrote in a memo to network staff, “I can confirm that we have checked all of our bureaus worldwide, and have found no other devices have been found.”

 

It appears this may have been politically motivated, as have other suspicious packages that have been discovered that were sent to former President Barack Obama on Wednesday and former First Lady-turned-New York Senator-turned-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday. These come on the heels of the report of a suspected bomb that was mailed on Monday to philanthropist and Democratic Party mega-donor George Soros, who has been the subject of attacks with anti-semitic tinges on the right wing.

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It was only a matter of time, what with the relentless anti-CNN push that has gone on over the past few years. And CNN didn’t help their own cause by becoming the equivalent of a circus act.

 

What ought to scare everyone is if those bomb scares turn out to be far worse than a bomb scare. You’ve got a significant part of the polarized populace who view the media as the enemy... whether it’s the left seeing Fox News as the enemy, or the right seeing any outlets that aren’t outwardly sympathetic to them as the enemy.

 

This has the makings for something really, really bad. It’s also totally avoidable, which makes it worse.

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It was only a matter of time, what with the relentless anti-CNN push that has gone on over the past few years. And CNN didn’t help their own cause by becoming the equivalent of a circus act.

 

What ought to scare everyone is if those bomb scares turn out to be far worse than a bomb scare. You’ve got a significant part of the polarized populace who view the media as the enemy... whether it’s the left seeing Fox News as the enemy, or the right seeing any outlets that aren’t outwardly sympathetic to them as the enemy.

 

This has the makings for something really, really bad. It’s also totally avoidable, which makes it worse.

There are preliminary reports from sources close to the NYPD that the package delivered to CNN -- which was mailed to John Brennan, who is a contributor for MSNBC and NBC News -- was an actual live pipe bomb. So... the statement above holds weight. Especially, considering that the pattern here involves people who are critics or, in the case of CNN, perceived critics of Donald Trump. One of his followers was clearly motivated to do this.

 

Some commentators on the network have also called out the likelihood that the scares are likely politically motivated, effectively addressing a common criticism of mainstream media outlets by those in the independent media (such as The Young Turks and their associated shows), the claim that mainstream media chooses to "call it even" and not point out the disparities between the behavior of factions of the two political parties, a criticism that often suggests that the media tries too hard to avoid valid criticism of the right wing due to the right's common response to criticism (whataboutism, ingenuine offense to pointing out their flaws, etc.).

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It was only a matter of time, what with the relentless anti-CNN push that has gone on over the past few years. And CNN didn’t help their own cause by becoming the equivalent of a circus act.

 

What ought to scare everyone is if those bomb scares turn out to be far worse than a bomb scare. You’ve got a significant part of the polarized populace who view the media as the enemy... whether it’s the left seeing Fox News as the enemy, or the right seeing any outlets that aren’t outwardly sympathetic to them as the enemy.

 

This has the makings for something really, really bad. It’s also totally avoidable, which makes it worse.

Not following you here. Are you suggesting that free speech should be curtailed here? Why should CNN (or Fox News for that matter) change what or how they cover things? No matter how you cover something you’re going to piss off someone. There is NO justifiable reason for this and it was not avoidable. You’re essentially blaming CNN instead of the actual culprit.

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Not following you here. Are you suggesting that free speech should be curtailed here? Why should CNN (or Fox News for that matter) change what or how they cover things? No matter how you cover something you’re going to piss off someone. There is NO justifiable reason for this and it was not avoidable. You’re essentially blaming CNN instead of the actual culprit.

There is no excuse for sending out (real or fake) explosives to media outlets or anyone for that matter, any sane person would agree with that. These matters should be treated as terroristic acts and punished to the fullest extent of the law. Nobody's denying that point.

 

The simple message is, look at the statement from Zucker in the post above. We have *zero* public proof or information about who did this and where it came from. Zucker, and all of CNN for that matter, is reporting whatever's on their mind first, then asking questions later (if they are even asked at all!). Credibility is at an all time low, and making these types of statements and reporting in the fashion they are doing, is not going to help their bottom line. Confirmation bias is real people...

 

I suppose Zucker and CNN have exclusive details saying Trump's fingerprints are on the package that was sent?

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There is no excuse for sending out (real or fake) explosives to media outlets or anyone for that matter, any sane person would agree with that. These matters should be treated as terroristic acts and punished to the fullest extent of the law. Nobody's denying that point.

 

The simple message is, look at the statement from Zucker in the post above. We have *zero* public proof or information about who did this and where it came from. Zucker, and all of CNN for that matter, is reporting whatever's on their mind first, then asking questions later (if they are even asked at all!). Credibility is at an all time low, and making these types of statements and reporting in the fashion they are doing, is not going to help their bottom line. Confirmation bias is real people...

 

I suppose Zucker and CNN have exclusive details saying Trump's fingerprints are on the package that was sent?

 

Well, no other leader and his administration have encouraged the current level of hatred towards the media. Trump has repeatedly referred to the media, CNN specifically, as being enemy #1 to the people. This is on him and his flippant stupidity.

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This is on him and his flippant stupidity.

Sure he's said that, I don't completely agree with him for saying that, there are times where it should be dialed down.

 

I still can't believe we are saying "this is on him" when the FACTS haven't even come out yet. Good god. If Trump said, "Go and Bomb CNN and MSNBC" then sure, yes I agree with you then. But until a specific order is given, no way you can connect it. Bombs were sent to other Democratic people as well, not just CNN too, remember that. This could be a horrible coincidence, some crazy (non political motivated) wack job that we have to deal with in this country. Could be from an external source not even in our country. There are a million different possibilities that can cause this, and we know zilch.

 

What happened to CNN's Apple and #FACTSFIRST? Hmm...

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I still can't believe we are saying "this is on him" when the FACTS haven't even come out yet. Good god. If Trump said, "Go and Bomb CNN and MSNBC" then sure, yes I agree with you then. But until a specific order is given, no way you can connect it. Bombs were sent to other Democratic people as well, not just CNN too, remember that. This could be a horrible coincidence, some crazy (non political motivated) wack job that we have to deal with in this country. Could be from an external source not even in our country. There are a million different possibilities that can cause this, and we know zilch.

Look, you have the right to talk about CNN's lack of worthy credibility, but right now is not it. Trump is responsible for the bomb threats and discovery because, plain and simple, he called CNN -- and the rest of American national media -- "the enemy or the people". His supporters took this as an easy invitation to target them verbally and violently, and took to their own devices (and in this case, literally) to realize their unhinged fantasy. There is no excuse for any of this catastrophe today, and it all comes back to Trump and the enablers within his administration and his supporters.

Whatever you think of CNN cannot possibly trudge through what happened today to still say "But hey, CNN still sucks, amirite?".

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Look, you have the right to talk about CNN's lack of worthy credibility, but right now is not it. Trump is responsible for the bomb threats and discovery because, plain and simple, he called CNN -- and the rest of American national media -- "the enemy or the people". His supporters took this as an easy invitation to target them verbally and violently, and took to their own devices (and in this case, literally) to realize their unhinged fantasy. There is no excuse for any of this catastrophe today, and it all comes back to Trump and the enablers within his administration and his supporters.

Whatever you think of CNN cannot possibly trudge through what happened today to still say "But hey, CNN still sucks, amirite?".

Once again, unless you have rock solid direct proof, there is no evidence of Trump spearheading the violence that occurred today directly and saying for people to do these things against the Democrats or News Media. If you know for sure 1000% that the person(s) who did this act were influenced by Trump, I'm sure the FBI would love to have a chat with you at your earliest convenience. And CNN's constant degrading coverage 24/7 isn't making their case better, IMO. Just look at their ratings, they do all the talking. And for the record, I don't believe in the childish "CNN Sucks" chants. While I certainly don't agree with the direction they have taken their channel, I actually still hope that one day news coverage will go back to the golden days of factual based reporting and not all of this sensationalized crap (fat chance).

 

I am not angrily arguing with you, just stating my analysis and critical thinking beyond. We don't have to disagree, and it's very healthy for us to have reasonable discussion here (as we are). You have valid points, I have valid points, we certainly don't see eye to eye. But there is one thing we can all agree on, and that is these terroristic acts are absolutely NOT acceptable in this country and need to stop. Whoever is doing them should be punished to the fullest extend of the law.

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I think we can all be sure of one thing.

 

With technology the way it is, we can probably expect an arrest soon.

 

The person that sent these is not too smart if they thought they could avoid leaving fingerprints,DNA, hair, fibers, license plate readers, facial rec...etc. or whatever.

 

The coverage today was disgusting and comical.

 

Nobody asked the obvious questions, because to do so would have drastically reduced the news value of the event...and the political value of the event.

 

I predict the person arrested will claim they thought they were "helping" one political party or the other.

 

Probably just some poor misdirected fool who has fallen for the crap that claims to be "news".

 

Yup,

Some people really believe this stuff is 100% real, and they have no ability to think rationally.

 

 

PS: The account exec's at the Time Warner center did NOT evacuate....they were too busy making cold calls.

 

So if you want to see what it looks like when a crazy guy makes a bomb the size of a Xerox machine? The KBEX-TV story machine will take us all back to Aug 26-27th 1980 in Lake Tahoe, NV

 

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Look, you have the right to talk about CNN's lack of worthy credibility, but right now is not it. Trump is responsible for the bomb threats and discovery because, plain and simple, he called CNN -- and the rest of American national media -- "the enemy or the people". His supporters took this as an easy invitation to target them verbally and violently, and took to their own devices (and in this case, literally) to realize their unhinged fantasy. There is no excuse for any of this catastrophe today, and it all comes back to Trump and the enablers within his administration and his supporters.

Whatever you think of CNN cannot possibly trudge through what happened today to still say "But hey, CNN still sucks, amirite?".

The problem is, CNN isn’t without fault here. They’ve had many issues that predated the anti-CNN movement (Malaysian Air, anyone?) that sacrificed credibility for cheap ratings points. And they haven’t helped their cause by being all-fucking-Trump, all the time (in addition to having Brian Stelter do... well, whatever the hell he does under the misnomer of an “ombudsman”).

 

If anything, CNN has been as much a source of the problem as Trump has been. Heck, their treatment of Jim Acosta, where they allow him to get abused by Trump supporters and then have him hype it up on the late night TV shows, speaks for itself.

 

There needs to be legitimate soul searching at the network, but with Zucker in charge, that ain’t happening.

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So if you want to see what it looks like when a crazy guy makes a bomb the size of a Xerox machine? The KBEX-TV story machine will take us all back to Aug 26-27th 1980 in Lake Tahoe, NV

 

Holy shit. The pictures of that contraption are insane.

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There needs to be legitimate soul searching at the network, but with Zucker in charge, that ain’t happening.

 

At some point an entire network spoiled.

Good reporters lost their way.

 

I almost feel sad criticizing them even more because I feel like it's akin to yelling an Alzheimer patient when the care giver becomes frustrated.

The poor old person can't help themselves, and it serves no purpose to scold them any further when they can't help themselves.

 

The staff at CNN is afraid of constant lay-offs, budget cuts, and the place is being run buy some crazy suicide programmer hell bent on revenge...

...and the network brass supports him.

 

It's just so sad, because most those folks want to be great reporters and producers, but they also want to keep their jobs.

 

 

So what about those Dodgers and Red Sox?

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