Volkswagen is one business that is at the forefront of this shift. Jason Bradshaw, Volkswagen’s chief customer marketing officer, says taking this approach to optimising an employee's experiences of work has real business benefits.
How CEOs, Experts and Philosophers See the World’s Biggest Risks Differently
Trying to understand CEOs’ blinkered view of risks
The FBI Has Been Lying About Seth Rich Craig Murray
How to delete what Facebook knows about your life outside of Facebook Recode
US Colleges Are Trying To Install Location Tracking Apps On Students’ Phones The Verge
The whole thing lasted less than a minute. Was it all just
good-natured ribbing? Was it an inexcusable lack of professionalism and
respect? Was it one big misunderstanding?
Whatever it was, it has turned into a viral
clip that once again has President Donald Trump and his supporters squaring
off against CNN.
This actually happened on Don Lemon’s show last Saturday, but it
didn’t gain traction until Trump commented on it just after midnight early
Tuesday morning. It was a segment in which, in an attempt to be funny, a panel
of Lemon, New York Times columnist and CNN contributor Wajahat Ali, and ex-GOP
strategist Rick Wilson laughed at and mocked Trump and then his supporters with
fake Southern accents that obviously were meant to question their intelligence.
The conversation was about the dustup
between NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over
questions about Ukraine. Wilson said, “(Pompeo) also knows deep within his
heart that Donald Trump couldn't find Ukraine on a map if you had the letter U
and a picture of an actual physical crane next to it.”
That set Lemon into an over-the-top laughing fit as Wilson and
Ali started talking in Southern accents as if they were imitating those who
support Trump.
“‘Donald Trump’s the smart one — and y’all elitists are dumb!’”
Wilson said.
Ali joined in, saying, “‘You elitists with your geography and
your maps — and your spelling!’”
“‘Your math and your reading!’” Wilson added. “‘All those lines
on the map!’”
The two kept going as they all laughed, including Lemon, who
wiped tears from his eyes.
Trump
later retweeted the segment and called Lemon the “dumbest man in America.”
The clip then went viral on Tuesday with Trump supporters outraged.
Lemon, however, said Tuesday night that he was only laughing at
Wilson’s original joke about Trump and Ukraine on a map, and not Wilson and Ali
mocking Trump supporters.
“This is personally important to me to address this,” Lemon said
during his opening monologue on Tuesday night’s show. “Ask anyone who knows me,
they’ll tell you I don’t believe in belittling people, belittling anyone for
who they are, what they believe or where they’re from. During an interview on
Saturday night one of my guests said something that made me laugh. And in the
moment I found that joke humorous, and I didn’t catch everything that was said.
Just to make this perfectly clear, I was laughing at the joke and not at any
group of people.”
Lemon seemed sincere, but the damage had already been
done.
Now it’s not likely that anyone who might have been offended
even watches Lemon, who is consistently critical of the president. Still, this
is CNN. This a professional news broadcast, not some late-night talk show or
buddies yukking it up over drinks. And moments like this only lend credence to
those who believe CNN is not an objective news organization. Fairly or
unfairly, this does damage to the entire network.
Ivanka Trump tweeted,
“You consistently make fun of half the country and then complain that it is
divided.”
But Wilson wasn’t having any of that, calling the whole thing
“fake outrage.” He
tweeted, “The MAGA world wants the freedom to attack, insult, demean, and
abuse anyone who doesn’t aggressively worship Donald Trump. They can’t stand
anyone who punches back, and hope they can intimidate or shame me.”
Ali
tweeted, “I refuse to be intimidated & bullied by bad faith actors who
cry fake victimhood, whining about a harmless, silly 30 second clip while
endorsing Trump, a cruel vulgarian who debases everyone.”
Still, this goes back
to Lemon. Wilson and Ali were brought on as guests and, while they are the ones
who said it, the responsibility is on Lemon to maintain some level of control,
respect and professionalism. Bending over and laughing until you cry while
being oblivious to what your guests are doing was not a good look for Lemon. It
was an even worse look for CNN.