Don Lemon on asking Elon Musk tough questions: ‘My job wasn’t to be liked’

The way people in the United States consume news is changing. More Americans have been turning to social media and video platforms for news.

For Don Lemon, once one of the most recognizable faces in primetime television news at CNN, the shift is personal.

“For almost twenty years I worked inside a system with layers: producers, standards and practices, corporate messaging, a boss’s boss’s boss,” Lemon said in an exclusive interview with EIN Presswire.

“That’s not a knock on the people, some of the best journalists I know are still there,” Lemon added. “But there’s a difference between reporting the news and reporting it the way a network’s legal and business interests require.”

While mainstream media remains a major source of news, it has seen declining engagement as audiences increasingly turn to a growing network of creators and independent media outlets for news.

In fact, the Reuters Institute’s 2026 Digital News Report found that 56% of Americans in the survey said they now use social media as a news source, compared with 45% who turn to TV news and the same share who use news websites and apps.

And globally, a whopping 77% of consumers said they now watch online news videos each week. The report points to a more fragmented alternative media environment where independent content creators are viewed as trusted sources for news.

‘The rules of good journalism’

Nowadays more people are turning to YouTube live broadcasts and streaming platforms for news. It has opened new opportunities for news figures like Lemon, who left CNN after nearly two decades.

Since launching his own independent media network, Lemon has built a major following online, with the Lemon Media Network, which he has stated now reaches nearly 11 million followers across its platforms.

Even without the backing of a major news network, Lemon has landed interviews with high-profile figures like Elon Musk and California Gov. Gavin Newsom. He also sat down with influencer and author Ashley St. Clair, the mother of one of Musk’s children who is known for leaving the MAGA movement.

The veteran journalist founded the independent media company in 2024. Owning his network has allowed Lemon to play by his own rules but that doesn’t mean abandoning the standards of journalism.

“I still believe in the rules of good journalism, I just don’t need a network’s permission to follow them,” Lemon said. “That’s what the Lemon Media Network is.”

His career offers a window into a broader change in the news business: Journalists who once relied on television networks for audiences and infrastructure can now build platforms of their own, with greater control over how they report and distribute their work.

Lemon has joined a growing list of prominent news personalities who moved from mainstream media to launching their own platforms, including former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who now runs The Tucker Carlson Show, and former CBS Los Angeles reporter Erica Mandy, who left traditional TV news to launch The NewsWorthy.

The rise of independent media comes amid legacy newsroom layoffs, corporate media mergers, and a growing audience demand for direct, raw and unfiltered perspectives.

Lemon expands his newsroom

At the same time, the Lemon Media Network has opened the door to new talent, including a younger reporter who previously covered politics for Spectrum News.

Making the move to Lemon’s network was a no‑brainer for Daniel Grimes, now the Washington, D.C.-based political correspondent at the Lemon Media Network.

“I love the flexibility and the ability to be my authentic self,” Grimes said in an interview with EIN Presswire. Grimes is often seen reporting live from Capitol Hill on LMN’s streaming broadcasts, and he said he enjoys the rest of his work from home, “writing for Substack, doing research, and booking guests.”

Grimes also said in the interview that he was the only Black reporter at Spectrum at the time and didn’t receive the same pay raise as his colleagues, who he said “had the same level of experience” but didn’t have an advanced degree like Grimes.

“I was going through negotiations to correct it (didn’t work) but met Don at the NABJ [National Association of Black Journalists] Washington event during the WHCA Correspondents Week and he was hiring,” Grimes said. “The rest is history. But let me also say I’ve followed his (Lemon’s) career for a while and have always admired him and it’s an honor to be part of the Lemon Media Network.”

In September, Lemon announced an expansion into streaming television with the launch of The Don Lemon Channel in partnership with Swerve TV, which operates free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels. The channel is described as a leading 24/7 television network available across linear and streaming platforms.

Amid traversing the nation with a sit‑down conversation with California Gov. Gavin Newsom and a national tour with comedian D.L. Hughley, Lemon spoke with EIN Presswire about his rare past interview with Elon Musk and more. Grimes also took some questions.

Editor’s note: This interview has been slightly edited for length, clarity and brevity.

Q: You interviewed Elon Musk in 2024, where you reportedly pressed him on a variety of issues. The partnership with X ended shortly afterward. From what you can share about that experience as an independent journalist, do you think good journalism means asking the tough, sometimes uncomfortable questions, even when there may be consequences?

Lemon: I went into that interview the same way I’d go into any interview: prepared, direct, and not looking to make anybody comfortable, including myself. My job wasn’t to be liked by the person across from me. It was to ask what the audience deserved to have asked.

What happened afterward told me everything I needed to know about why independent journalism matters right now. When you’re independent, nobody can call your boss and get you reassigned. Nobody can pull your show. The worst that happens is a business relationship ends — and I can live with that a lot easier than I could live with pulling punches. If asking real questions costs you a partnership, that’s a pretty clear sign the partnership was never really about journalism to begin with. That’s the trade I’ll make every time.

Q: You’ve been a household name in TV news for nearly two decades. How would you describe the transition from working for a major TV network to taking the independent media route, and does being independent give you more freedom to tell stories the way you want to?

Lemon: When you’re independent, if I think a story matters, I don’t have to build consensus with five people worried about advertisers or a parent company’s other business lines. I just have to be right, be fair, and be able to defend it.

Is it more freedom? Absolutely. But freedom without structure is just noise, so the challenge has been building my own version of standards and practices — my own discipline — instead of having it handed to me.

Q: What’s your outlook for the future of how people consume and trust the media? Do you think independent media will become a bigger part of that future?

Grimes: It already is. This year for the first time ever more people are getting their news from social media than traditional broadcast and that trend is only going to grow. Before I joined Don’s team, I talked to management at the broadcast company I came from about ways we could compete with independent journalists, but my message was repeatedly met with disdain. It’s that resentment towards change that is going to drive the networks out of business. I love that Don and the team are open to ideas and if something doesn’t work then we just pivot and try something else.

Q: How has your experience working in independent media compared with your experience working in a traditional newsroom? Have you noticed any major differences?

Grimes: As for the authenticity factor - it is so nice being able to give my actual opinion about the awful things happening in the country right now under this administration and call out Senator Mitch McConnell for not showing up to work for over two months even though he repeatedly voted against paid family leave. I love being able to call out the hypocrisy while still reporting on Washington.

Q : What are some of the major cases or news stories you’ve been covering? Have you noticed any stories that independent journalists are covering that the mainstream media may be overlooking?

Grimes: Yes, and Don always talks about how independent journalists like us are charting the course for the networks. The show has covered the Nolan Wells investigation from day one, and now other independent journalists and networks are covering, but being able to set the tone and be there from the beginning is what we can do with the channel.

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