CNN President: 'Complete Confidence' in Zakaria, Despite New Plagiarism Scandal
CNN President Jeff Zucker is standing by Fareed Zakaria, despite new allegations that the host plagiarized in multiple venues. On Wednesday, Hadas Gold of Politico reported Zucker's Tuesday comments about Zakaria: "We continue to have complete confidence in Fareed." Gold noted that "when pressed further if that meant Zakaria would continue appearing on CNN, Zucker repeated that they have complete confidence in the host."
The network certainly gave the impression of doubling down on Wednesday morning. Zakaria, who was suspended by the network in August 2012 for plagiarizing New Yorker writer Jill Lepore, appeared on New Day and CNN Newsroom programs on Wednesday morning (as pictured at right).
The Politico reporter pointed out colleague Dylan Byers's September 17, 2014 article on the controversy that "reviewed...examples" of Zakaria's alleged plagiarism and "asked some media ethicists to do the same. They came to the same conclusion: Zakaria plagiarized." She also cited a Monday piece from Esquire.com that touted a blog that sparked the latest charges against the CNN personality. The same website has been targeting Zakaria as a plagiarist since August 2014.
It should be pointed out that the Fareed Zakaria: GPS host was also once in "favorable consideration by Team Obama for the post of national security adviser," according to an August 2012 Newsweek piece that attacked the journalist's critics in the wake of his first plagiarism scandal. Later that year, Zakaria ran to the defense of the President after the September 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. government facilities in Benghazi, Libya.
— Matthew Balan is a News Analyst at the Media Research Center. Follow Matthew Balan on Twitter.
