Variety revises article on former CNN chief Jeff Zucker that was sharply criticized

abcnews.go.com:

Under fire this week for an investigative story on former CNN chief Jeff Zucker, the entertainment publication Variety made changes to the piece on Friday

NEW YORK — The entertainment publication Variety, under fire this week for an article it published about former CNN chief Jeff Zucker's interest in his old employer, revised the piece on Friday to reflect some of the complaints about it.

None of its changes affected what was written about Zucker, however. He has called for the story to be retracted.

The article by Tatiana Siegel, which initially ran online Tuesday, depicted Zucker as badmouthing his successor at CNN, Chris Licht, while simultaneously trying to buy the news organization that fired him in early 2021. Licht's unsuccessful run atop the struggling news network ended with his firing in May.

The dispute also points to the dangers inherent in the use of confidential sources by journalists. There are at least a dozen claims made in the story that Variety did not attribute to a named source that were denied on the record, either in the story or after publication, leaving it up to readers to decide who to believe.

“There used to be a time when Variety held its content and its reporters to a high standard of truth and facts in journalism, but those days are clearly over,” said Risa Heller, a spokeswoman for Zucker. “It is stunning to read a piece that is so patently and aggressively false. On numerous occasions, we made it clear to the reporter and her editors that they were planning to publish countless anecdotes and alleged incidents that never happened. They did so anyway. The piece is a total joke.”

Variety's co-editor-in-chiefs, Cynthia Littleton and Ramin Setoodeh, said in a statement Friday that they have