There are rumors swirling that new CNN boss Chris Licht has placed anchors Brian Stelter, Jim Acosta and Don Lemon on notice and warned the trio that they would be fired unless they adapt to the network’s new mandate to be less partisan.

If true, we praise Licht for trying to bring CNN back to its roots and stop being a left-wing PR company for the Democrats.

FTVLive has taken all three of those Anchors to task for their highly partisan reporting that has no resemblance to real Journalism.

Let’s take Jim Acosta out of the mix because let’s be honest Jim Acosta’s favorite subject is Jim Acosta. In a business full of egos, you would be hard-pressed to find someone with a bigger ego than this guy. He should be gone from CNN, not for his bias, but for his over-inflated ego.

As for Lemon and Stelter, they both might be beyond reclamation and even if they did reign it in, many would say that the damage is already done. Both have reputations as hard liberals that hate the right and are so anti-Trump it is in their DNA.

But, I really don’t blame either Brian Stelter or Don Lemon for what they have become, I blame Jeff Zucker.

There was a time when both Stelter and Lemon were decent Journalists that could report both sides of a story and do a solid job.

They might not have been great, but they were certainly doing a solid job.

But, Stelter was hired by Jeff Zucker and up to that point, Stelter had never worked in a TV newsroom. He came from the newspaper side and was still very wet behind the ears when Zucker gave him his first TV job.

Stelter acts as if he is an expert in TV news, but he has never worked in a local or broadcast network newsroom. He’s only worked at CNN and up until a few months ago, he has only worked under the thumb of Jeff Zucker.

Zucker had this young kid that didn’t know how TV news works and was able to be molded like clay to do whatever Zucker wanted. For years, Stelter’s office sat close to Zucker’s office and Zucker would often walk into that office and give Selter his marching orders.

Stelter, having never worked in TV news thought this was how it was done and he was more than happy to carry Jeff Zucker’s water.

Stelter certainly wasn’t the best-looking guy. He was overweight, prematurely bald, and yet here he was on CNN. It was like he hit the lottery.

He did what Zucker wanted and Zucker used him as a puppet.

But, while it crashed his credibility, Stelter was still living a dream that he never thought he would live. He was on CNN, hob-nobbing with the cool kids and for a nerd like Stelter it was perfect.

That is right up until Jeff Zucker was fired.

With Zucker gone, Stelter was floundeing. No one was telling him what to say anymore and he had long lost his Journalism roots and was like a ship lost at sea.

Now, you can expect Stelter to try and do what Licht wants him to do. But, the difference between Licht and Zucker is that Licht isn’t going to tell him what to say.

Stelter is stuck trying to figure out what Licht wants and after years under Zucker, he no longer has a clue how to be a real Journalist.

Even if he was able to pull off the impossible, the public for the most part will continue to look at him as a shill for the left.

I think any chance of Stelter getting respected again is like a ship that has long left the docks.

As for Lemon, it is the same story.

The difference was Lemon did have experience in other newsrooms and wasn’t nearly as wet behind the ears as Stelter when he was hired at CNN.

But, Zucker was also to mold Lemon by playing to his ego. Zucker told him he could be a major star, he just had to listen to him.

It was the Brian Stelter story all over again, just a different manipulation by Zucker.

Lemon’s rep is his rep and that isn’t going to change either.

Licht would be wise to just cut bait and run.

I don’t think either Don Lemon or Brian Stelter can be saved, but, I don’t blame either one of them. I blame Jeff Zucker.

Just saying…