Trump, CNN war takes a new turn

new york — The war between Donald Trump and CNN has taken a new turn with the government’s challenge to a tie-up between AT&T and the cable news channel’s parent firm Time Warner.

Even as his Justice Department moved to block the deal, the president has stepped up his attacks on the major news network, his most frequent target of “fake news” complaints.

Trump has been attacking CNN since the 2016 campaign, but the latest developments raise questions about whether he is using his power to choke off investment, or even force CNN to be sold to a partner friendlier to the White House.

As the atmosphere has deteriorated, CNN said it would boycott the White House Christmas party “in light of the president’s continued attacks on freedom of the press and CNN.”

Trump returned the compliment, with a tweet saying, “Great, and we should boycott Fake News CNN. Dealing with them is a total waste of time!”

CNN is not the dominant force in television news it was decades ago, as Fox News has attracted conservative viewers and MSNBC from the left.

“Unfortunately, our polarised political climate is being reflected in the high ratings for partisan cable outlets,” said Dannagal Young, a University of Delaware professor of communications.

“However, from a democratic perspective, the viability of CNN is arguably more important than ever.”

The massive buyout of Time Warner by AT&T is now in court, with the companies claiming that because it is a “vertical” merger with no overlap of services, competition would not be impacted. — AFP