CNN’s CEO: ‘If we didn’t have politicians on air who might lie, we’d struggle to fill the airwaves’

2025-05-15

At the Truth Tellers summit in London, Alan and Lionel sit down with Mark Thompson, the CEO of American media giant CNN.Mark is asked if he has sat down with Trump since he started in office.Does he feel a slide towards state-owned media, monitored by the White House? And why does CNN continue to give the president airtime?“If the rule was [that] we didn't have politicians on the air who might lie", he says, "we'd be struggling possibly to fill the airwaves.”Plus, after listening to the...

At the Truth Tellers summit in London, Alan and Lionel sit down with Mark Thompson, the CEO of American media giant CNN.Mark is asked if he has sat down with Trump since he started in office.

Does he feel a slide towards state-owned media, monitored by the White House? And why does CNN continue to give the president airtime?

“If the rule was [that] we didn't have politicians on the air who might lie", he says, "we'd be struggling possibly to fill the airwaves.”

Plus, after listening to the ‘Rest is Classified’ podcast series on whistleblower Edward Snowden, Alan discusses his role in publishing the Snowden documents, and how he believes the BBC was too timid to cover the story.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Comments (3)