CNN asks if the Klan can rebrand. Twitter asks if CNN is high.

After Philly.com wrote this headline for the news of Chelsea Clinton’s pregnancy, you’d think the Worst Story of the Week contest was over.

Screen Shot 2014-04-20 at 11.10.46 AM

Not so. CNN on Saturday decided to follow up on the recent attacks on Jewish centers in Kansas with a, er, thought piece of sorts on the Ku Klux Klan’s desperate attempt to remain relevant. CNN went out to marketing experts to discover what the KKK needed to in order to freshen up its image, which is still about hatred, lynching and burning crosses in most people’s minds.

Screen Shot 2014-04-20 at 11.13.55 AM

Amazingly, CNN found “brand experts” to weigh on this issue.

“They stand for hatred; they always have,” said Atlanta-based brand consultant Laura Ries. “Maybe they don’t believe in shooting up a center for Jewish people, but they still support beliefs that are beyond the scope of understanding for most people and certainly the freedom and equality our country believes in.”

Needless to say, this did not go over well on Twitter. Many took time out from their Easter Sunday to pan CNN, which has come under repeated criticism for its somewhat idiotic reportage of late, especially its wall-to-wall coverage of the missing plane. That’s how one unfortunate headline becomes the spark for a good ol’ fashioned dog pile.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UPDATE: CNN seems to have thought better of the headline at least. It subsequently altered it.

Screen Shot 2014-04-20 at 4.18.58 PM

https://digiday.com/?p=72380

More in Media

Frequency management is capping CTV ad spend

Experts assert that buyers don’t have to accept trade-offs when it comes to merging ad tech and TV.

Vox Media offloads Outsports to Q.Digital

LGBTQ+ publisher Q.Digital has acquired Outsports from Vox Media in an all-stock equity deal. Q.Digital plans to grow Outsports’ audience by 20% and sell sponsorships for its sports coverage.

News podcasts and ad buyers have yet to see a presidential election year ad spend bump

Some news podcasts aren’t seeing a presidential year election bump in ad revenue yet, likely due to audiences’ growing news aversion.