JNN: CNN

CNN Comments 34

09.01.2003

Happy Labour Day!

Boy, August was probably JNN's most darkest hour. Don't really like to beat a dead horse, but for those who don't know, Geocities decided to shut my site down. It was as if, JNN suffered a blackout. This period was rather a wake-up call to me, so with that I recently changed the site's look. Yep, the CNN.com like is gone, but not all of it. I do hope you like the new changes.

The good news is that I'm back, and hopefully, will not be going anywhere soon. Coming soon in the fall will be a new section to JNN: CNN, a multimedia gallery with CNN promos and original soundtracks (OSTs). So look forward to that.

But now, I just wanted to welcome you back to the new JNN and thanks for again for dropping by.

Like a light, let's turn on CNN34. By the way, I'm doing this "old-school" - without notes. Hope I don't forget anything.

CNN Quiz Game Check out Markus' new CNN Quiz Game! Brought to you by CNNFan.com and JNN.

JNN Breaking News
Paula Zahn's show's name appears to be, "Paula Zahn Now," according to my satellite's programme guide. Again, my satellite says "Paula Zahn Now."

Power Blackout
Well, well CNN scored a ratings coup, but unfortunately it took a blackout and millions without power. But, then again any news story is fair game. CNN averaged 1.63 million viewers, compared with Fox's 1.58 million, on Thursday between 4:15 PM, when the blackout started, and 3 AM. [DG]

The news network did an awesome job covering the loss of power on the east coast of Canada and the US. They had great people - Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, Maria Hinojoso and many others - on the scene. I cannot believe the Paula Zahn had to be flown in by helicopter to get where she was. Plus her hair wasn't blow-dried, which was fun to watch. Not only CNN had the right reporters but they gave in-depth reports on the power outage itself, the political ramifications of deregulation, and the human side of the story where people came together and helped out.

During the broadcasts, many CNNers gave their own stories when the outage occurred. Wolf Blitzer was a little scared at first and was unsure what do to do. Eventually, he made his way down the 21 flights of stairs to the ground to start working the story. Bill Hemmer led himself and Daryn Kagan down the 21 flights with Hemmer's small pen-light attached to his head. By the way, Hemmer slept for 4 hours on his balcony to keep cool while Kagan hung out at the lounge in her hotel room. As well, Josie Burke (formerly Josie Karp) was to cover a PGA event in Rochester, but took a detour to, I think, the Niagara-Mohawk power plant.

The first night, Aaron Brown and Paula covered the night time coverage. I was a little disappointed that they replayed their two hours an hour later on the west coast. Before Aaron came on, Larry King's show was very interesting with such guests as Gov. Pataki, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Senator Hillary Clinton, Gov. Gray Davis and Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico and former Energy Secretary under Clinton.

The day after, CNN went to rolling coverage as the power slowly came on during the day. What kind of surprised me was that CNN had a thorough 2-hour "NewsNight" with Anderson Cooper live from Times Square. Like always, Cooper did an awesome job. This was a real treat.

Other programmes originating from Times Square were "On the Story" and "In the Money." The latter show did two live editions (one on Saturday and one on Sunday), hosted by Susan Lisovicz.

Bottom line, CNN had this story covered down to the last electron, or lack off. Events like this one - massively unpredictable - makes CNN shine.

Behind the 8 Ball
The 8 PM ET time for CNN continues to be a challenge. Paula Zahn's programme, "Live from the Headlines" is still loosing viewers. Numbers for her show is considerably lower than Connie Chung's old show. Dropping by 21%, for July and the first week of August Zahn only mustered 599,000 viewers compared to Chung's 758,000 during the same time period.

Even Cooper's timeslot took a hit as well. During July and the first week of August, Cooper managed to garner 467,000 vs. "Crossfire's" 586,000 during the same time last year.

One of the reasons for the ratings slump is the lack of buzz for Paula's show. "They pulled out all the promotional stops for Chung," says Andrew Tyndall, of the Tyndall Report on television news.

CNN continues to fiddle with Zahn's programme. Recently they scaled back the runtime to an hour, dropped the proposed name of "American Evening," and Producer Jim Miller has promised an ensemble cast of yet-to-be-named contributors.

Having only one more week to nail down the details, Zahn's programme is to have a new format September 8. [DG, DM]

Personality Rules at CNN
At the dog-and-pony show, CNNers Paula Zahn, Anderson Cooper, Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien give their takes on showing personality while delivering the news. Here is what they had to say:

Anderson Cooper: "I'm a big fan of personality. I hope the hour (I deliver) is very personality driven. I write a lot of stuff and I like writing. I hope to bring my own sensibilities and I hope the show reflects that. It's a mix of hard news, and also cultural stuff and social issues."

Paula Zahn: "Over the years, both working in prime time and in the morning, it's become abundantly clear to me that I think viewers want consistency in the coverage. They want to know that the product they're watching is objective. And clearly, personalities bring people into the tent."

Soledad O'Brien: "I like to focus on the news and doing a smart interview. My goal for the most part is to just be myself. I don't think that personality is something that needs to be pushed or sold."

Bill Hemmer: "I had a bit of a struggle with (personality). I've been at CNN now eight years and I think about six and a half years of that time, I got a lot of heat because I looked 18 years old. Actually, I'm 38. But since I've moved to New York and I'm working with Paula, I've actually enjoyed my job more when I get the opportunity to show more personality."

August Specials
Last month CNN presented two specials: "Road to Recall: The Battle for California" and "Baghdad Diaries." The former focussed on the impending recall election in the Golden State, while the latter gave a look at life after Saddam.

"Road to Recall" was superbly hosted by Kelly Wallace, fresh from her Mid-East tour. Along with her were Bob Franken and CNN Political Analyst Bill Schneider. The hour-long programme was very comprehensive giving viewers a greater understanding of this hot story. Much of the night focussed on candidate Arnold, but CNN did give some face time and covered the other contenders. Kelly Wallace also scored two exclusive interviews with Governor Gray Davis (and his wife) and with comedian Bill Maher. At the end of the show there was a call-in session, but unfortunately, the phones weren't working. That was pretty much the only glitch of a solid night.

Andrea Koppel hosted the 30-minute special "Baghdad Diaries," a glimpse at free Iraq. This report featured stories from Jane Arraf and Harris Whitbeck. Under night-vision, Jane was on night patrol with a group of US troops, where security is still volatile, kids are awake greeting soldiers, and anything of the unexpected can happen. Whitbeck reported on the sad state of affairs - no security, no electricity, no jobs and high prices; common complaints by many civilians. Other segments in this special were an interview by Rym Brahimi with the former Iraqi foreign minister and a spotlight on a father and his son, both serving in Iraq.

People
• Soledad O'Brien, whose first name means "solitude" in Spanish and refers to "Our Lady of Solitude," has made gains for CNN's "American Morning." After melding seamlessly, the programme definitely has some groove with a newsier feel and interesting lighter pieces such as "90 Second Pop." Overall all, CNN has seen an increase of viewers by 3% since O'Brien was brought into the fold. Between the 25-54 demographic the show has gained 5%.

• "AM's" Jack Cafferty has dodged jail time for running over a bicyclist, with his large Cadillac in midtown New York. He was fined $250 and will have to complete 70 hours of community service for leaving the scene of an accident. The victim was Billy Maldonaldo, 48, who banged up his elbow, scrapped and cut his hand, and his knee started swelling as Cafferty drove away. Witnesses say that Cafferty ran at least two red lights while going around other vehicles without stopping, dragging the bike beneath his car, before being stopped by police. Cafferty claims that he never saw the biker. Nevertheless, the CNN anchor is being sued for $10 million. [JB, DG]

• In September's Details magazine, Anderson Cooper finally opened up a bit about his brother's suicide. Carter, Anderson's brother, leaped from the family's 14th floor New York apartment terrace right in front of their mother. "Like a gymnast," is how Anderson's mom described his brother's "swing over the edge." After the death of his brother, Cooper travelled to Somalia. "I'd come here to be a reporter. At least that was the excuse. The only thing I knew is that I was hurting and needed to go someplace where the pain outside matched the pain I was feeling inside." [USA Today]

• Clark-less News Network? Yep, that's pretty much the case as (Ret.) General Wesley Clark is no longer working for CNN. Apparently, the White House forced CNN to take him off their payroll. In an interview with Newsradio 620 KTAR Clark said, "The White House actually back in February apparently tried to get me knocked off CNN and they wanted to do this because they were afraid that I would raise issues with their conduct of the war." He adds, "Apparently they called CNN. I don't have all the proof on this because they didn't call me. I've only heard rumors about it." [DG]

To add insult to insult, Lou Dobbs has banned Wesley Clark from his show. Dobbs, the opinionated lapel wearing advocate of straight talk, believed "that when Clark came on his show during the Iraq war and teed off on the Pentagon blueprint, the possible Democratic candidate was pushing his personal political agenda, not providing straight military analysis." Talk about hypocrisy. [US News & World Report]

• Former CNN weather presenter, Karen Maginnis is now at Fox-5 Atlanta. Her bio can be read here: http://www.fox5atlanta.com/weather/karen.html [JB]

• Tim White, who hosted CNN's "Talkback Live," is now at WKYC-3 Cleveland. His bio can be read here: http://www.wkyc.com/talent/white.asp [JB]

• Former CNN Travel Correspondent Stephanie Oswald is now part of Bobbie Batista's media company, Atamira. Oswald is an associate. [JB]

• A question about John King: What's the background of CNN White House reporter John King? I think he went to college with my son in Chicago.
- Caroline Taniguchi, Waipahu, Hawaii

Sorry. He went to University of Rhode Island; while there, he got ink in his blood. King was a college intern for the Associated Press and tells us, "I remember sitting there, 19 years old, looking around and thinking, 'People get paid for this!'" AP hired him full time after graduation; he was paid $24,000 a year, and "I thought I was rich." A Boston native, King, 39, switched to broadcast news with the CNN job in 1997. He was named senior White House correspondent in 1999. "With this job, you're a witness to history," he says. "But it's confining. Presidents talk about the bubble of living in the White House. There's a bubble covering it as well." When not in the bubble, King spends as much time as he can with kids Noah, 9, and Hannah, 6. [USA Sunday Magazine, BH]

• Arthel Neville, host of "Talkback Live," has left the network in early August. She departed four months after CNN cancelled the afternoon gab fest. [DG, DM]

• Former HNLer, Michelle Mitchell ("In the Loop") has published a new novel, which features a sexy heroine, working the political power scene in DC. Titled, "The Latest Bombshell," it focuses on the main character, Kate Booth, who "must convince the media world, the public, the courts and the US government that her ex- boyfriend, journalist Lyle Gold, has not passed secrets to the Chinese."

In a review by USA today, the newspaper says the book is "sassy, smart, sexy and savvy, a breezy read that is comically insightful about the nastiness and plotting that occurs in the hallways, hideaways and bars of the nation's capital." [DM]

• Eric Horng, one of the few Asian reporters remaining at CNN has left. JNN's Doug Mehus sends this: Eric Horng has left CNN and the city of Los Angeles where he was based to join the NewsOne division at ABC News. NewsOne is similar to CNN's Newssource, which provides live and packaged news reports to a network of subscribed affiliates and international partners. He will move to the Chicago bureau of ABC News and serve as the Midwest correspondent for NewsOne. [DM]

CNN International News Headlines

My good friend Svetlozar has been extremely busy recently, so because of time constraints he wasn't able to join us with his insightful commentary on CNNI. He really wanted to write about the network... Fortunately, Svetlozar was able to send his review on "Asia Now":

"Asia Now" debuted today (August 11) on CNN International. As promised, the show is hosted by Veronica Pedrosa and Andrew Stevens. It has some very cool graphics, but the theme music is the one previously played on Asia Tonight. In fact, it appears to me Asia Now is the result of Asia Tonight's expansion to all CNN International networks. It was stupid to call it "tonight" when London viewers watched it at noon. Andrew Stevens now covers much more (not only business news). They - he and Veronica Pedrosa - appear to be a nice match. I'd still prefer, however, if there wasn't "Asia" in the title. It can still be hosted from Hong Kong and be a global news show. The same story is "World News Europe." Why Europe when Latin American viewers watch it? There ain't really that much focus on a specific audience in these shows.

Anyway, CNN has done a terrific job. [SA]

CNNI Quickies from July
Svetlozar sent some fast news on CNNI in July, which I forgot to include in CNN33. Sorry about that. Without further delay here they are:

LKL on n-tv
"Larry King Live" will be airing each Saturday on the German news channel, n-tv. [MR]

CNN News Headlines
CNN and the LA Times have teamed up to sponsor a gubernatorial debate between the major candidates vying for the governorship of California. The debate will air September 30 at 9PM ET (set your Tivos) nationally on CNN and locally on CNN's affiliates. As well, the Spanish language version will air play on CNN en Espanol.

CNN, and soon CNNMoney.com and SI.com, has/have a new e-mail alert system where users can get news alerts in their inbox by certain keywords and topics. This is a free personalized feature.

"Lou Dobbs Tonight" has launched a new segment titled, "Heroes," a spotlight on a US service member that recently came home from Iraq or Afghanistan. Airing on Fridays, the feature will showcase the soldiers' experiences of serving in the Middle East and the challenges at home. This is the show's second military affairs segment.

With CNN's big names - Wolf Blitzer and Christian Amanpour - no longer on the scene in the Iraq region, the news network is still paying buckets to keep 30 people on staff. Forgoing on profits and focussing on journalism, CNN is spending an additional $100,000 to $200,000 per week for its news operation in Iraq. Eason Jordan defends the extra expenditures, "This is all about journalism. This is not about profits."

Celebrity "Crossfire"
For one week a passionate and informed Janeane Garofalo co-hosted "Crossfire" on the left. Trading barbs between bow-tie master Tucker Carlson, the liberal Hollywood activist took Tucker and the panellists to task over hard issues such as the chaos in Iraq, the gubernatorial race in California and the 10 Commandments monument in Alabama. The refreshing Garofalo fought valiantly and was unapologetic with her stinging commentary. She proved to be one girl very hard to beat.

Janeane commented on her co-host, "Tucker's madly in love with me" says Garofalo, tongue firmly in cheek. "His shrill nature and constant need to marshal my opinions are just masking his deep admiration."

Hot from his legal victory over Fox News about the phase "Fair and Balance" on his new book, satirist Al Franken took the helm on the left for two nights on CNN's debate programme. Despite his subtle wackiness and randomness, Franken showed his more serious side with thoughtful analysis and questions.

CNN Birthdays
HLN's Linda Stouffer celebrated her birthday on August 6. As well, Kyra Phillips had her birthday on August 8. Kyra actually took the day off on her birthday, but her parents caught her the day before and telephoned in to wish her "Happy Birthday" on-air. During this funny segment, the folks down in Atlanta showed some cheerleading shots from Phillips' early years. And finally, former CNNer Connie Chung turned 57 on the August 20, I believe. As for the ages of Linda and Kyra, I didn't catch them. [GS, CNN Transcript]

Happy Birthday CNNers!

Verbatim
"The news is there to bring you them!" - Bill Maher on the 'new' media, during an interview with "NewsNight's" Aaron Brown [SA]

"When I was a kid, I had to pick dandelions, an entire basket and I got 25 cents." - Andrea Koppel, during a "DollarSigns" edition on kids and money

"It's either this, look, there's only two speeds at this time of the morning. It's either sleep or full throttle." - Richard Quest when asked by Andrea Koppel how he finds the energy to go on the air at 3:45 AM in the morning in London

"Well, first of all, I'd be happy to compare my hair with Tom DeLay's. We'll see who's got the blow-dried hair." - (Ret.) General and former CNN analyst Wesley Clark on DeLay's irritation with "blow-dried Napoleons that come on television and, in some cases, have their own agendas"

"But up at the top, quickly, who's No. 1? 'Don't know about the Cubs and the Sox. They're still playing. But Aaron Brown had a deadline and we aim to please.'" - Aaron Brown on the August 28, 2003 edition of the Chicago Sun-Times

Cool Documentaries
CNN ran a couple of cool documentaries this summer. Along with Leon Harris' "African Journey" and Kyra Phillips' "Harsh Continent," (replay) two other gems were on CNN's air.

Carol Lin returned to report on "The Perfect 10," an inside look of youth sports and more specifically the pressures of womens amateur gymnastics. The main focus was on the elites, a group of girls striving for perfection, with injuries, and hoping to land a place for the Olympics. While watching this programme, I was surprised how young they start - around 2-years-old. There was one girl, who was no more than 7-years old, trying out for a high-end school while having a broken ankle.

After seeing this edition of "CNN Presents," I thought that parents push their kids too hard at times - kind of knocking the fun out of sports - as if parents are competing with other parents through their kids, and that, "My kid is better than your kid."

The second documentary was Bruce Burkhardt's "Summer of Fire," an in-depth look on the forest fires of 2002. In the documentary we were introduced to "smoke jumpers" - fire fighters who parachute in - and "hot shots," the guys on the front lines. You really have to feel for those guys, as they work excruciatingly long hours. As well, topics of the science of fire, fire suppression and strategy were discussed. The most striking part of this special was an experiment conducted by a fire scientist, where fire burning on a flat area travels much slowly - 12 minutes - while 12 seconds going up hill.

With documentaries like these, I'm looking forward to the new ones in the fall.

CNN Flub of the Month
This major and unfortunate flub comes from HLN, where a female anchor explained how the recent Episcopal conference "will vote on the confirmation of Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire. He would become the first openly gay Episcopal bitch [slight pause] bishop." Looks like HLN should clean up its act. [MRC Cyber Alert, August 4, 2003]

Retro TV Numbers
Some numbers are finally out on HLN's switch to go tickerless, and they are not encouraging. At the beginning of August, fewer than 200,000 people have tuned into Rudi's clutter-free newscasts. ["Crawl-less, At Stroke of 9" by Verne Gay]

Hemmer on the War
Turning the microphones on the press, the New York Magazine, The Guardian, and The New School hosted a forum for journalist who covered the Iraq war. One of the participants was Bill Hemmer of "American Morning." Below are some of the questions and Hemmer's answers:

Q: Did the American media sell out in covering this war?
Hemmer: I saw French television in Kuwait, and I thought they were decidedly anti-American.

Q: Was the coverage jingoistic?
Hemmer: We don't use words like "we" at CNN. Word goes out periodically from senior staff to avoid it. But I think that the word "hero" has been used.

Q: Did 9/11 set the tone?
Hemmer:...I think the tentacles and the shadows of that day extend into almost everything that we do almost daily.

Q: Should we have seen more dead bodies?
Hemmer: What we saw was far too clean and sterile in the U.S. War is an ugly thing.

Q: Was covering the war fun?
Hemmer: I listened to (Walter) Rogers virtually every time he was on the air and I never remember the word fun coming out of his mouth.

Q: Well, what if we were lied to? How much of a problem is it for Bush and Blair?
Hemmer: When it comes to going to war in the future, if we don't find the WMDs, doesn't it make it a lot harder from this point further for the government to go to war again? ["The Media at War" by Michael Wolff, New York Metro, August 25, 2003]

Name Change?
AOL/Time Warner is mulling a name change. It's thinking of dropping the AOL moniker. Since all the critical problems with the online division - bleak revenue outlook, sliding subscriber base, and an investigation by the SEC - it appears Time Warner wants to distance itself from that mess. [DM]

Softball Brawl: CNN v. AOL
"You've got mail!" were the words of John King, while rounding second base on a homer by CNN's Howie Lutt during a softball game between the news network and the online division. The AOL shortstop alleges that King added a choice expletive, which he denies, but he (King) got cursed out anyway. The phrase kicked up a bit of a fire storm, where an AOLian bumped Lutt and that lead to a bench-clearing brawl, which another AOLian's hand landed on King's chest. Being pumped up playing against the division that swallowed CNN, King added, "If he took it the wrong way, I'm sorry. I'm a boy playing softball, not consulting with my PR advisers before I speak."

I don't know what the score was, but a three-run homer in the final inning gave CNN a victory. [DG, BH]

CNN Reaches More Conservatives?
If you think that Fox News has a lock on conservative viewers, well you can pretty much throw that theory out the window. It turns out, according to a study by Carat USA; the ad agency found that CNN pulls in more conservatives than Fox by 37% to 32%. While CNN is getting more right-wing viewers, they are only watching the channel for the headlines but are not tuning in for a long period of time. The study also finds that, ironically, Fox's entertainment programming attracts more "liberals" with shows such as "Futurama."

On the Political Radar - JNN Exclusive
Well, it's Labour Day and the official kick off of the presidential election. With the political atmosphere growing in the news, I asked my contact in CNN DC a few related questions.

I inquired whether CNN will be adding an additional Congressional Correspondent, and the network will indeed hire a new reporter sometime early next year. So Jon Karl will remain as the sole Congressional Correspondent for now.

With regards to Wolf Blitzer's 12PM ET newscast, the programme doesn't really have a name. But, the folks in DC are working on it.

Finally, when asked about any presidential election specials/debates in 2003, no details were given - it was a little bit early to know. But the gubernatorial race in California and the sniper trials in the fall will consume some of the political news oxygen. As well, CNN has recently launched a "Voter Alert" segment around 11:40 AM ET, and may have a second segment later in the day.

I hope you enjoyed your holiday. I certainly did while watching CNN's 2-hour political fest "Crossfire Goes Inside Politics" with Judy Woodruff, Paul Begala and Tucker Carlson. The show covered a lot of ground with the kick off of the presidential race and the race in California. This special had the right balance between news and debate, and included guests such as Howard Dean and Cruz Bustamante. I was more than pleased with the programme and it was like a high for political junkies.

See you in October!

Contributors: SA - Svetlozar Aleksiev, JB - Joy Baker, DG - David Glass, BH - Barb Hamer, DM - Doug Mehus, MR - Markus Ranzenberger, GS - Geoffrey Sorenson