Thursday, August 13, 2009

CNN Makes A Surprising Editorial Decision

I like this.

TVNewser has learned, and a CNN spokesperson confirms, that in his morning editorial meeting today, CNN/U.S. president Jon Klein asked his show producers to avoid booking talk radio hosts. "Complex issues require world class reporting," Klein is quoted as saying, adding that talk radio hosts too often add to the noise, and that what they say is "all too predictable."
Yes it means that Stephanie Miller stops getting airtime on CNN, but let's face it, liberal talk show hosts are outnumbered by "conservative" ones by a 5 to 1 ratio. And even if you think it's dead even, talk show hosts are the unacknowleged beards of their parties. They're entertainers! What they say isn't meant to inform! Whether it's "they want to kill all the old people!" or "they want to kill all the poor people!" it's still a chance to float a talking point without having your party accountable.

Presumably CNN is either giving up interviewing people or they are going to interview official spokesmen and bloggers. The bloggers would seem to be the same problem as talk show hosts, but they're not nearly as slick and therefore easier to see through. Not to mention a hell of a lot cheaper to book.

Anyway, your hunger for talk show hosts can still be sated on the other two networks, you know, the ones everyone knows are biased.

1 comment:

  1. I agree with this policy. Excepting when it is the talk show host that is IN the news then it is not wrong to have one on the air.

    But, in general, I think talk show hosts are NOT "the news." When ever I see one on TV (no matter if he's right or left) I change the channel.

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