Posted on 06/20/2005 10:58:52 PM PDT by paudio
CNN's former bureau chief in Beijing and Tokyo has acknowledged that she resigned from the cable news network because she "had been growing increasingly frustrated with the direction CNN was going in." In an interview appearing in the current Columbia Journalism Review, Rebecca MacKinnon remarked that she had become aware of a trend toward "less interest in serious news and ... towards more infotainment, from anything but a war zone." She said that as "neither a war correspondent nor an infotainment news bunny," she was forced to reexamine her place at the network, especially after being told things by her superiors like, "Your expertise is getting in the way of doing the kind of stories we want to see on CNN" and "We'd like you to cover the region more like a tourist." MacKinnon said that when she came to the network in 1992, when it was still owned by Ted Turner, it placed heavy emphasis on international stories. "There was this real feeling that if a story mattered, we should cover it. If you had a strong argument to that effect and you could pitch that to Ted Turner, the funds would be there, because he viewed CNN as something other than a product that you just sell on the market for profit maximization. He saw it as something more socially significant than that." All that, she said, changed after the merger with Time Warner, when the attitude became, "if you couldn't justify high ratings with a story, increasingly, they didn't want to spend money on it. Of course, it's hard to know in advance sometimes."
They could try reporting the news....
The question is: what do they consider a story that matters?
He saw it as something more socially significant than that."
Just report the news, and stop trying to be a "force for social change."
Well said.
"Your expertise is getting in the way of doing the kind of stories we want to see on CNN"
Her "expertise" being left-wing propaganda?
Greta quit CNN for similar reasons.
How about CNN gives Rush Limbaugh a timeslot. That would bring their ratings up.
CNN would rather crap eyecandy than report the news thoroughly AND without bias.
One would have thought that getting rid of Constipation Woodruff would have helped.
If they spent more time reporting the news instead of trying to create news, their credibility level would be higher than it already is.
It was very surreal, on Larry King, the other night. He had on his current wife, and kids. Two of his sons look old enough to be his wife's father.
Having a show on CNN would be below his current pay grade. Rush has said time and time again he has no interest in doing television beyond appearances now and again.
They probably are older than his current wife.
Let's be realistic--his prior attempt at TV was such a flop he probably won't get an invite to do any TV over the long haul anyway. When's the last time you saw Chevy Chase...anywhere? Man, did that show suck.
I get the impression his radio show is improving remarkably, however, and I'm considering listening to it again. Has he ended his Hannity phase, wherein he promotes his own book and newsletter every 15 minutes, or should I continue to listen to someone else mid-day?
Precisely.
"It was very surreal, on Larry King, the other night. He had on his current wife, and kids. Two of his sons look old enough to be his wife's father."
And yet nobody slams him on his puff piece show for it. It's not like that crusty old coot is going to make it much longer, and it might be the one thing that would get real bounce for anyone appearing on that suckup promo show. I would be all over him for being a molester...look how the press is swarming Tom Cruise while that old cradlerobber gets a free pass.
Naughty, naughty (wags finger), you're being rational again...
In reality, the main reason why it flopped is because stations that did carry his syndicated show put it on at a time when hardly anyone was watching anyway. The local station here programmed his show to air in the 2:00am hour, because they had other programs on that had been on for years between the hours of 10:00pm and 2:00am.
bye
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