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The Don Lemon Show

Lemon LIVE at 5 | Mainstream Media BLOODBATH! - October 29th, 2025

The Don Lemon Show

18Hundred LLC.

Society & Culture, News

4.31.2K Ratings

🗓️ 29 October 2025

⏱️ 55 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

It’s a bloodbath in mainstream media, and the numbers are brutal. CBS News is making sweeping cuts. NBC News is slashing jobs. Reporters, producers, and crews across the country are being shown the door in the name of “restructuring.” So what does this mean for the future of journalism? Is mainstream media dying, or just selling out? Because as outlets pivot toward right-wing narratives and bend the knee to Trump, it’s starting to look less like journalism and more like appeasement. This episode is sponsored by Ollie. Take the guesswork out of your dog's well-being. Go to https://ollie.com/lemon and use code lemon to get 60% off your first box! This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at https://betterhelp.com/donlemon and get on your way to being your best self. This episode is brought to you by MSI United States. Go to https://msiunitedstates.org or text “lemon” to five eleven five eleven. Text “lemon” to 511511 and see all the Wonderful services they provide. Text Fees May Apply. This episode is sponsored by Henson Shaving. Go to https://hensonshaving.com/LEMON and enter LEMON at checkout to get a free pack of 100 blades with your purchase. (Note: you must add both the blades and the razor for the discount to apply.) For free and unbiased Medicare help, dial 212-931-0855 to speak with my trusted partner, Chapter, or go to https://askchapter.org/don DISCLAIMER: Chapter and its affiliates are not connected with or endorsed by any government entity or the federal Medicare program. Chapter Advisory, LLC represents Medicare Advantage HMO, PPO, and PFFS organizations and stand alone prescription drug plans that have a Medicare contract. Enrollment depends on the plan's contract renewal. While we have a database of every Medicare plan nationwide and can help you to search among all plans, we have contracts with many but not all plans. As a result, we do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 50 organizations which offer 18,160 products nationwide. We search and recommend all plans, even those we don't directly offer. You can contact a licensed Chapter agent to find out the number of products available in your specific area. Please contact Medicare.gov, 1-800-Medicare, or your local State Health Insurance Program (SHIP) to get information on all of your options. Average potential savings are based on realized premium, co-pay, and out of pocket savings estimates self-reported by consumers that worked with Chapter Advisory LLC to enroll in a Medicare Supplement, Medicare Advantage, and/or Part D Prescription Drug Plan. The average is limited to consumers that chose to self-report. Savings information is subject to periodic updates and corrections. There is no guarantee of savings and any savings may vary by policy type, state, or other factors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the Don Lemon Show. Glad that you are here, Lemon Live at 5. We have to talk about something that's going on. We've discussed the media quite a bit in recent months, but this story is, I think, really, really important because now we're seeing where the metal meets the road, so to speak, or what's exactly

0:38.2

happening to the networks and what the future is like. So make sure you hit the like,

0:42.6

hit the thumbs up. It affects the algorithm. More people become aware of our conversation.

0:46.0

That is just the truth. Okay, let's get to it. Okay. So welcome to the show, everybody. For months,

0:51.9

CBS news staffers have been on edge waiting for a long expected round of layoffs

0:57.1

as part of a $2 billion in cost cutting, $2 billion in cost cutting that had been promised

1:05.2

after the parent company Paramount's successful merger with Skydance media.

1:09.5

Okay, so those cuts began on Wednesday morning and have been described as massive.

1:15.0

The company declined to provide any specific number to this.

1:18.2

One CBS news staffer described the cuts as a bloodbath saying that they were wide-reaching

1:23.0

and affected a number of different departments.

1:26.5

It's part of the cuts.

1:27.1

The network has closed its Johannesburg Bureau,

1:29.7

and is canceling its CBS Morning Plus and CBS Evening News Plus streaming shows.

1:34.6

The network's Saturday morning program will undergo a format change,

1:38.4

that's according to a source with knowledge of the changes who was not authorized to comment.

1:42.9

The network's race and culture unit was

1:45.2

also gutted. This follows a large layoff, these large layoffs at NBC News earlier this month.

1:52.1

So let's talk about all of this, all right? I'm joined now by Ben Smith. He is the co-founder and the

1:57.3

editor-in-chief of Semaphore and former media columnist for the New York Times.

2:02.0

Also, mixed signals podcast, which I have appeared on and it's quite good.

2:07.8

Okay, Ben, tell us what's going on here.

...

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