Posted on 10/24/2004 3:28:24 PM PDT by Cableguy
America, take heart. The last week of the turbulent presidential campaign is upon us.
This also means our TV screens will be bursting with pontificators, prognosticators, prevaricators, punch lines and overall punch-drunk love for the climactic final rounds between President George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry.
So where will you turn to make sense or nonsense of it all? Who turns you on among the myriad talking heads? Jon Stewart? Bill O'Reilly? Tim Russert? I have watched 'em all since the night of Howard Dean's Iowa caucus conniption fit.
Now it's time to name names, but first with a few caveats.
You'll notice this Top 10 list of TV's election-year influentials is all white, all male. That's because times haven't changed much when it comes to giving women and minorities some showcase seats at the table.
PBS's Tavis Smiley, CNN's Judy Woodruff and PBS's Gwen Ifill all have their own public affairs shows. Still, they simply don't generate enough buzz to make a major impact.
The list also has more cable than broadcast news personalities. More than ever before, that's where the action is. Old-line stalwarts such as Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings and Barbara Walters didn't make the list. Can you think of any overriding reasons why they should?
CNN's Larry King would have topped a Top 10 list in 1992, when Ross Perot launched his presidential campaign on Larry King Live and Bill Clinton and the elder George Bush were regular visitors. But what's he done lately?
Two more things. Internet pathfinder Matt Drudge would have made the list if it weren't confined to TV, or if he made regular TV appearances. Also, four of the list-makers also have had best-selling books in play this year. And two from that sub-group have nationally syndicated radio shows. It all helps in spreading their words and magnifying their influence. Here goes:
1. Jon Stewart: The eye-rolling, reliably snarky anchor of Comedy Central's The Daily Show has impact well beyond the 1 million or so viewers who religiously watch his program. He's a highly sought-after guest on other shows and doesn't mind appearing on them, whether it's Crossfire -- where he famously wrangled with Tucker Carlson -- The O'Reilly Factor or 60 Minutes. Big-time politicos, ranging from John Kerry to John McCain, likewise have let loose on The Daily Show.
Stewart also has engaged in several modern-day Socrates-Plato dialogues on political coverage with Nightline's time-tested Ted Koppel. And his book, America: A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction, is No. 1 on The New York Times Best-Seller List. He also made the cover of TV Guide, puckishly posing with a forkful of White House-shaped cake in his mouth.
In short, the diminutive Stewart just couldn't get much cooler. Which is exactly why he's so hot.
2. Tim Russert: NBC's Meet the Press is a juggernaut in the Sunday-morning serious discourse arena because Russert has a virtual lock on all the major exclusives. He doesn't play favorites, grilling all forms of big-time politicians pointedly, fairly and incisively.
He did let his guard down when a press aide to Secretary of State Colin Powell tried to truncate their interview. Big Tim didn't like that one bit. And Powell responded by getting irked with the aide, not with his interviewer. These guys know better than to unduly antagonize the secular lord of the Lord's Day.
Russert also had a No. 1 best seller earlier this year with a tribute to his dad titled Big Russ and Me. It was a little sappy, but he's entitled.
3. Bill O'Reilly: A recent sexual harassment lawsuit filed against him by a Fox News Channel employee has given O'Reilly all the more reason to tell his viewers and radio show listeners that "The Left" is out to get him. But he remains the most potent force on the three cable TV news channels, luring increasing numbers of A-listers to his much-ballyhooed "No Spin Zone."
Recent visitors to The O'Reilly Factor have included President Bush, Ben Affleck, Michael Moore and Bono. Even Kerry has called the show "terrific" and its host "a fair interviewer."
O'Reilly, whose favorite subject is himself, relishes such praise but seems to get a bigger kick out of being attacked or talking about how The New York Times still hasn't reviewed any of his best-selling books. It's all part of the Factor game plan, and it's been working brilliantly.
4. Dan Rather: The right's favorite lightning rod has had a banner year, thanks to his moonlighting adventures on 60 Minutes. Rather, who will turn 73 on Halloween, continues to lag badly in the ratings as anchor of the CBS Evening News. But on 60 Minutes this year he had the first interview with Bill Clinton (tied to his My Life autobiography), a major piece on the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and then the infamously flawed report on President's Bush's Texas Air National Guard service.
The latter is still being investigated in-house by CBS. Meanwhile, Rather soldiers on while his many detractors again call for his head. He professes to feel like a "tiger in autumn" rather than a lion in winter. In either case he may be an endangered species.
5. David Letterman: Election years invigorate him, whether it's via serrated Top 10 Lists, wacky video from the campaign trail or sit-down interviews with politicians who know he won't be a patsy.
Late Show With David Letterman welcomed Jimmy Carter and Ralph Nader earlier this month after Kerry both played and parried with the host in September. Letterman's ratings correspondingly have improved to the point where he's finally nearing parity with Jay Leno's long-dominant Tonight Show. If only the campaign could keep on going through the November "sweeps." But no, Dave wouldn't wish that on us, even if it meant ratings gold.
6. Sean Hannity: Comfortably seated at the far right of the political teeter-totter, Hannity is still the dominant force on Fox News Channel's Hannity & Colmes. But wait, this just in: Alan Colmes seems to be made of slightly sterner stuff these days, perhaps tiring of his role as road kill opposite a guy who also churns out best-selling books and has a hit radio show.
Hannity's matinee-idol looks and glib tongue are equaled only by CNN's Tucker Carlson, who's not on the Top 10 list because he has to share too much time on Crossfire with the show's three other loudmouths. Hannity & Colmes provides a far bigger platform, particularly for the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and their head spokesman, John O'Neill. Hannity just can't get enough of these guys, who seemingly can do no wrong in his eyes.
7. Chris Matthews: Few if any know the ins and outs of national politics better than this former Democratic Party operative. And no one would agree more heartily with that assessment than Matthews, whose Hardball program on MSNBC gives free rein to his full-blown verbosity and pomposity.
Matthews found himself in heaven at the Republican National Convention, where keynote speaker Zell Miller tried to snap his head off or at least best him in an old-school "duel." A volley of on-air promotions ensued, no doubt giving Matthews a bigger rush than Darrell Hammond's recurring impressions of him on Saturday Night Live.
Still, there's no better haven than Hardball for hard-core political junkies. Now if only the loquacious host would shock the nation by telling a guest, "Wow, what a great point. Please keep talking while I respectfully listen for at least another 10 seconds." Alas, there's a better chance of Ralph Nader winning Mississippi.
8. Bill Maher: No one has a sharper opening monologue than the former Politically Incorrect ringmaster, now working without a net on HBO's live Friday night presentations of Real Time With Bill Maher.
The host lately has been bashing the Bush administration's Iraq war policy while also decrying Kerry's campaign as inexcusably uninspiring. His satellite interviews with political notables often are better than the show's four-way panel discussions pitting a token conservative against the rest of the group. He told Howard Dean, for instance, that his ill-fated tour as the Democratic front-runner was similar to a kid getting ready to lick an ice cream cone, only to see its sweet spot fall onto the sidewalk.
Maher also is a sought-after cable news guest, sparring with O'Reilly one night and soaking up adulation from King the next.
9. Brit Hume: The former ABC newsman's weeknightly Special Report on Fox News Channel is a model for what the broadcast networks could do if they had an extra half-hour. Its closing confabs with the ill-named "Fox All-Stars" are civil, animated and reasonably "Fair and Balanced."
Hume also is a featured panelist on fellow ABC transplant Chris Wallace's Sunday morning show, where his right-of-center views regularly clash with those of left-leaning Juan Williams. Special Report plays it pretty straight, though, with Hume seldom betraying his views with any telltale voice inflections. All in all, he's sturdy ballast amid all the opinions flying around elsewhere on Fox News.
10. Ted Koppel: Nightline's patriarch made big news last April by devoting a full program to a name-by-name recitation of the then more than 700 U.S. service men and women killed in Iraq. The Sinclair Broadcasting Group ham-fistedly retaliated, prohibiting its eight ABC stations from carrying the program on the grounds it was a political statement disguised as news.
Koppel otherwise has struggled to keep Nightline on the political radar screen in times when cable news channels immediately fire their bazookas at any perceived targets of opportunity, including Koppel.
Nightline re-asserted itself in mid-October by journeying to Vietnam for its own investigation into whether Kerry merited a Silver Star for bravery. Several surviving Vietnamese eyewitnesses bolstered the senator's case, leading to a contentious interview between Koppel and Kerry antagonist John O'Neill, who said that ABC News had been played for a sucker.
And that's the way it's been.
ping
Funny how a fake news show is the number one show for news.
what crap!!
John Stewart is a comedian, not a pundit. And a bad comedian at that.
Russert and Brit rule. Um... Just who are these other guys???
More lies disguised as journalism.
Jon Stewart?? Bill Mahr??? Dan Rather???!! What a load of crap -- it makes me ashamed to live in the Dallas area (this is from the Morning News).
I adore Britt Hume and he made the list (#9) but I'd say that any list that includes Stewart, Mahr, and Rather as serious news commentators isn't fit to be used in Britt's outhouse.
Best Liberal - Russert
Best Conservative - Hannity
Biggest Ego - Stewart
russert a democrat, but not a liberal.
The three most influential newsmen are still probably the three network talking heads. These are the guys who are watched by the politically unsophisticated. This is not to say that they are good newsmen, because they are all rotten, biased, and corrupt. But they are influential. Rather maybe less so since he tried to peddle those forged documents, but network news is still critical. And unfortunately it's all leftist, all the time.
You summed it up perfectly.
Jon Stewart? I wasn't sure who he was until I read the description. Does he qualify as a pundit? I doubt it.
I don't mind Dave, but I don't think he's a pundit either.
Who's Ed Bark and how old is he?
16
Yep! Gotta get in a liberal spin, not that the majority of the list aren't libs. Dan Rather? Huh? Thank God For Sean Hannity and Brit Hume. O'Reilly, although I like him a lot, can't seem to make up his mind where he stands.
LoL.
I am basing my list on effect, not 'popularty' (or support for my point of view)
| His (leftist) list | My List |
| 1. Jon Stewart | 1. Rush Limbaugh - OK, not TV, but his influence outweighs all of the talking heads on video |
| 2. Tim Russert | 2. Brit Hume - real simple, he's honest and believable |
| 3. Bill O'Reilly | 3. Jim Lehrer - debate #1 did have an impact, after all |
| 4. Dan Rather | 4. Bob Schieffer - same rationale, debate #3 |
| 5. David Letterman | 5. Dan Rather - the exposure of the forged documents will be viewed as a turning point in history |
| 6. Sean Hannity | 6. Lawrence O'Donnell - it didn't say the influence had to be positive for the side they were promoting. O'donnell's psychotic tirade against John O'Neill will go down in history as one of the worst efforts by a partisan hack - and in this year that is saying something |
| 7. Chris Matthews | 7. Charles Krauthammer |
| 8. Bill Maher | 8. Ann Coulter - well, duh |
| 9. Brit Hume | 9. Oliver North - did more to make the reality of Iraq understandable than any 10 other reporters, with the possible exception of Greg Kelly, or the late Michael Kelly or David Bloom, whose deaths made it personal and believable |
| 10. Ted Koppel | 10. FR - actually more influential than any talking head there is or ever has been |
hehehe :)
this is not a family forum and its a crap article plain and simple
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