CNN’s Jake Tapper clashes with his boss after network curbs book promos: report

CNN anchor Jake Tapper is said to be fuming over a new company policy that sharply restricts how on-air talent can promote their own books.

Tapper, who hosts “The Lead” and co-anchors “State of the Union” at the Warner Bros. Discovery–owned network, is “very, very unhappy” with a directive from CNN chief Mark Thompson that prohibits anchors from promoting books beyond publication day, a network journalist told Breaker Media.

The veteran political anchor, who has authored eight books, most recently co-writing a bestseller about President Joe Biden’s decline and his disastrous decision to seek reelection, used his CNN platform extensively to promote the title — a rollout that some colleagues internally described as turning the network into a “rolling infomercial,” according to Breaker.

On Feb. 4, CNN updated its standards guide in what Breaker reported was a direct response to Tapper’s on-air promotion.

The revised policy states: “We should not mix news and advertising, even when what is being advertised is work by a leading CNN journalist.”

Under the new guidelines, anchors may acknowledge publication of a book on its release date if integrated into a journalistic segment — but they “should not promote it following publication day on their own program.”