Earlier this year, CNN barred Chris Cuomo from participating in its news coverage of the harassment allegations lodged against his brother, who has denied any wrongdoing.
“Chris has not been involved in CNN’s extensive coverage of the allegations against Governor Cuomo — on air or behind the scenes,” CNN said in a statement. “In part because, as he has said on his show, he could never be objective. But also because he often serves as a sounding board for his brother. However, it was inappropriate to engage in conversations that included members of the governor’s staff, which Chris acknowledges.”
“Cuomo Prime Time,” which airs at 9 p.m. on the East Coast, is a news and commentary hour featuring its namesake’s colorful monologues and jousting interviews with guests. In cable news, ethics rules for commentators are often looser than those for reporters. But offering strategic counsel to a high-profile politician is frowned upon. MSNBC, for instance, stopped paying the presidential historian Jon Meacham last year after he helped write speeches for Joseph R. Biden Jr., who was then a candidate for president.
Several of Fox News’s opinion hosts actively advised President Trump during his administration; Sean Hannity even appeared with Mr. Trump at a boisterous campaign rally. But CNN’s leadership often criticized Fox News for those blurred lines, with Jeff Zucker, the CNN president, describing the Rupert Murdoch-owned Fox as “state-run TV.”
After Chris Cuomo joined CNN in 2013, he mostly refrained from interviewing his brother on television. (One early exception led to some backlash.) That changed last year, after Governor Cuomo’s coronavirus updates became a national phenomenon. The brothers engaged in extended prime-time interviews about the emotional burdens of the pandemic. Viewers were riveted, especially after Chris Cuomo tested positive for the coronavirus and began speaking with his brother from isolation in a basement.
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/20/business/media/chris-cuomo-governor-brothers-cnn.html
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