There was some outstanding work done on television Friday night as the clock ticked down on the possibility of a government shutdown.

CNN showed why it is the one to watch when there is big news at play. The clip below offers a sense of how thoroughly senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash and chief national correspondent John King, husband and wife, owned the story.

As is often the case, C-SPAN rose to the occasion as well with a this kind of added social media materal: tweets from members in Congress as news of the 11th-hour deal broke.

Continue reading "CNN, C-SPAN: Fine work on Friday-night countdown" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 7:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: CNN, TV and Politics
        

Take a look at this video of Nic Robertson, CNN senior international correspondent, denouncing allegations made by Fox News that CNN and Reuters journalists were used as a "human shield" by Libyan officials.

This is not some little intramural rivalry. These are serious allegations Fox made. And Robertson seriously calls out the Fox correspondent and crew in Libya in a way I have never seen.

I have watched Robertson over the years, interviewed him on the phone and met him once or twice while waiting to go on "Reliable Sources" at CNN's Washington operation.

As a critic, I think he is one of the finest international reporters I have ever seen. He has been doing exemplary work in Libya -- far better than anything Fox News has been doing. And in the times I have talked to him, he struck me as an absolute straightshooter.

If what he says is true, Fox News has crossed a line with the charges it made, and this is not going to go away by Fox laying low for a few days until we media critics move on to the next story.

I have to say, as a mainstream critic who stood up for Fox News against the Obama administration when the White House decided it had the right to say what was and wasn't a legitimate news organization, I am particularly dismayed by this one.

Continue reading "Did Fox cross line with "human shield" allegations?" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 11:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (32)
Categories: CNN, Fox News
        

While some analysts are attributing CNN's ratings surge in recent weeks only to the incredible crush of news happening in place like Egypt, Japan and Libya, I believe there is more to the network's success than just a staggering flow of news.

Amid all its prime-time struggles with the likes of Eliot Spitzer and Piers Morgan, CNN has found something far more important than those two prime-time poseurs: It has developed and is now refining a more compelling model of presentation for its superior worldwide journalism. I am talking about the simulcasts that CNN and CNN International have been using more and more since its Egypt coverage.

I started paying attention to it in mid-February after talking to Tony Maddox, executive vice president and managing director of CNN International, about the network's coverage of Egypt. Maddox, who had previously been responsible for international newsgathering, was now in charge of international and CNN/U.S. newsgathering, and the difference was starting to show.

I have written many times about CNN's superior international newsgathering infrastructure and how important that is to Americans getting reliable, fact-based information especially at a time of such global upheaval. The network had eight teams in Egypt. Dr. Sanjay Gupta's work in Japan was terrific.

CNN's ability to jump on a major breaking international news story like no one else was again on display Saturday with Nic Robertson in Libya as the French jets and American and British Tomahawk missiles started taking their toll. You can see some of that coverage in the video below with CNN/U.S. anchor Don Lemon and Robertson, of CNN International.

But if you click ahead past the break to a second video, you'll see an example of what I think is also making a big difference in the ratings: the pairing of such anchors as Wolf Blitzer of CNN/U.S. and Isha Sesay of CNN International as part of an increasing number of domestic and international simulcasts.

Even though they are in different cities -- usually Washington for him and Atlanta for her -- they provide a near perfect context of seriousness and energy/urgency for all the on-the-ground coverage from the latest global hotspots. The set crackles with intensity when Blitzer is on with Sesay, and each time I now see them on split screen, my brain immediately says, "This is important. Something big is happening. Pay attention." I suspect lots of viewers are having the same reaction, which is part of what's making those Nielsen People Meters warm up to CNN in more American homes.

Continue reading "Libya and Japan: CNN shines with simulcasts" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 12:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)
Categories: CNN
        

Millions of words have now been said on cable channels and networks about the nightmare situation in Japan. It is one of the most heartbreaking stories I have ever seen TV cover.

But none of the words bring the story of the initial devastation and loss home like this video from CNN. Please take a look and let me know what you think of it.

Posted by David Zurawik at 4:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: CNN
        

I disliked CNN's "Parker-Spitzer" from the moment I saw it. Read it here. No reason to try and by phony-nice now.

I said "Parker-Spitzer" debuted dead on arrival, and CNN finally took a step Friday to try and do something with the remains: CNN executive vice president Ken Jautz announced that Parker was leaving, and Eliot Spitzer would now be part of a new "ensemble" show at 8 p.m. weeknights titled "In the Arena."

The "In the Arena" concept, by the way, was one that another disgraced politician embraced after his fall: Richard Nixon.

I will include all the statements from all the parties without comment in a second. But just allow me two fast thoughts.

Jautz says, "We will be adopting an ensemble format with several newsmakers, guests and contributors joining Eliot Spitzer each night."

Is it really an ensemble if others are "joining" Spitzer. If he's the only one who is there every night, is it still an ensemble?

Also, Jautz sets a time frame in his "Note" that indicates Parker decided to leave the show, and then CNN decided to "take the show in a new direction."

But in her note, Parker reverses the sequence of the two events, saying, "...with the show going in a new direction, it is a good time to move on."

I can't recall a show as messed up as this one getting on anybody's air -- and that includes PBS' "Need to Know." And that's really saying something given that disaster.

Nor can I remember as much spinning and lying with any show. I wonder if that has something to do with CNN building a show around somone who has become the poster boy for hypocrisy.

"In the Arena" with the least trusted man in television -- there's a catchy promotional idea. Remember when Spitzer was running around saying how they were going to re-invent cable talk and bring new depth and context to it. That was just before Piers Morgan started running around saying how he was going to kick the competition's butt in the ratings. What a prime-time pair.

Continue reading "CNN's Parker-Spitzer loses the wrong co-host" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 2:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: CNN
        

Amid much ignorant and some outright false reporting on the budget battle in Wisconsin, there is also some good work being done on a complex story that is being spun at the highest levels.

Take a look at this piece by Ed Henry, CNN's White House correspondent, back on Feb. 18. Henry isn't in Wisconsin, of course, he's in Washington. But he offers one of the first clear explanations of the very organized roots of this "revolution" in Madison that some foolishly and others calculatingly compare to the what recently transpired in Egypt.

And by the way, I think cable and network hosts, anchor, writers and producers sitting on their butts in New York and Washington who conflate Egypt and Madison falsely diminish the great risks their correspondent colleagues took in covering the Cairo story -- and they should probably think about that before they continue making the empty-headed comparison because they like the sound of leads that say, "From the Middle East, to the Midwest, citizens are rising up to demand...."

There is virtually no comparison -- and there certainly is no government in Madison sending out thugs to kidnap and assault reporters who are trying to report the story to the world.

Henry's piece shows the Organizing for America workers sent out by the White House to push the protest in Madison and the others that are taking place in Ohio, Colorado and Maryland. The White House working in tandem with national union leaders -- that's part of what is driving the protest MSNBC hosts like Ed Schultz and Rachel Maddow characterize nightly in prime time as a grassroots rebellion by put-upon workers who are being squeezed so that Tea Party GOP legislators don't have to cut taxes for the wealthy.

Good for CNN and Henry -- his stepback piece is one of the few that has politically contextualized the story from both sides. Meanwhile, read my post here on the dishonest, rabblerousing work being done by Maddow and Schultz -- and the false statements they have made, according to PolitiFact.

Continue reading "Good, bad, ugly media on Wisconsin budget fight" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 9:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (39)
Categories: CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, TV and Politics
        

I will be on CNN's "Reliable Sources" Sunday as part of panel looking at the retirement of Charles Gibson as anchor of ABC "World News" and the naming of Diane Sawyer his replacement.

The discussion ranges from the likely replacement for Sawyer at "Good Morning America," to an assessment of how "World News" might change with Gibson gone.

On the panel with me are Tina Brown, of The Daily Beast, and Rome Hartman, the former executive producer of the "CBS Evening News with Katie Couric" who now runs the nightly news at BBC America.  

Continue reading "CNN's 'Reliable Sources': We'll be talking ABC News" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 6:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: CNN
        

I have heard Kate Gosselin say some screwy things in interviews, but Tuesday night with Larry King, she set a new standard for denial.

"Do you think the show affected the marriage?" King asked the most discussed mom on American television.

"No," Kate said. And she sounded like she really believed it.

No? Having cameras follow you and your husband and eight kids around for five season didn't have an effect? No? Having thousands of fans and dozens of bloggers writing about how you treat your husband like a servant or an unruly child on the show, didn't have an effect -- especially after he said it did when the two of you announced your divorce on TV in June?

Kate, you really are something. Maybe you really do believe being on this show isn't going to have a profound effect on your kids for the rest of their lives either.

Continue reading "Kate Gosselin on Larry King: Her act is getting old" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 9:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (74)
Categories: CNN
        

Here is the Media Matters ad criticizing CNN anchorman Lou Dobbs for his on-air efforts in continuing to lend credence to the "birthers" movement that says President Barack Obama is not an American citizen.

 And you had better watch it here if you want to see it, because it won't be showing in Baltimore on any cable channel.

Continue reading "Here's the ad criticizing Lou Dobbs on 'birthers'" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 6:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (16)
Categories: CNN
        

Three cheers to CNN, Soledad O'Brien and the producers of the cable channel's Black in America 2 series for Wednesday night's "kickoff" interview with Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates.

If there was anyone who doubted whether or not CNN's Black in America series was really wired into the nation's discussion about race, they couldn't help but believe it truly was after seeing O'Brien's skilled interview with Gates. The interview preceded CNN's coverage of President Barack Obama's prime-time press conference, and by the time the president started talking about Gates' controversial arrest at his home in Cambridge, CNN viewers had to realize they knew more than the president thanks to O'Brien's interview.

Timely, focused and clear-headed, the interview was the first opportunity I had to hear Gates' account of events, and as I said in my preview of Black in American 2 Wednesday, I got up from the TV more informed about race than I was when I turned it on.

Continue reading "Henry Louis Gates and Black in America 2: Perfect!" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 8:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (38)
Categories: CNN
        

Documentaries are not supposed to be able to attract huge, mainstream audiences. Just ask all the TV networks that don't make them any more, claiming attention spans are too short for such long-form programming.

But CNN turned that notion on its head a year ago with Black in America, a documentary reported by Soledad O'Brien that was seen by 16 million people in the middle of the summer and helped ignite one of the most intense and widespread discussions of any TV production of the year. And most of the talk it generated was about race, a subject that TV had a long history of mostly trying to avoid until last year and the arrival of the nation's first black presidential candidate of a major party.

CNN returns to the topic this week for four hours across tonight and Thursday with Black in America 2, a sequel with every bit as much power and passion as the original. In fact, Black in America 2 might prove to be an even more moving TV experience for some viewers.

Continue reading "CNN's Black in America 2: TV that makes us smarter" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)
Categories: CNN, TV and race
        

Wouldn't it be nice if American television cared as much about the composition of the Supreme Court as it did Michael Jackson?

Sadly, that's not the country or the media universe we live in, but the two most reliable sources of news and information in American TV will be on the case Monday morning when the Senate confirmation hearings on Judge Sonia Sotomayor begin.

Cable channel CNN and the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer will offer live coverage, and that means everyone with a TV set will have access. For Maryland viewers, the good news is that Maryland Public Television says it will carry the NewsHour coverage -- local carriage is not an automatic, as local PBS outlets can opt out.

Continue reading "Where to turn for TV coverage of Sotomayor hearings" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: CNN, Cable and Network News, MPT, PBS
        

Since an exchange I had on CNN's Reliable Sources Sunday is being batted around elsewhere on the Web, I suppose I should weigh in on it -- or, at least, try to get in on some of the traffic.

The headline is that Lauren Ashburn, managing editor for USA Today Live, and I said that MSNBC and the Fox News channel are bad for America. Here is the way my colleagues at newsbusters.org characterized it. Howard Kurtz hosted the discussion, with BBC America anchorman Matt Frei as another of the panelists.

Continue reading "Angry talk on MSNBC and Fox is bad for the nation" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 12:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (37)
Categories: CNN, Cable and Network News, Fox News, MSNBC
        

Does anyone on cable TV cover real breaking news like CNN?

Tuesday when Senator Arlen Specter dropped the bomb that he was switching to the Democratic side of the aisle, CNN was all over it. From Dana Bash (left) reporting the story on Capitol Hill to a team of reporters gathering instant reaction around Washington, while Ed Henry and Bill Schneider offered on-the-run political analysis, this is the way a major story should be covered.

A note to some of my colleagues: Let's stop blindly celebrating the ratings successes of the cymbal-clanging chimpanzees named Olbermann, Maddow, Hannity, Beck and O'Reilly on MSNBC and Fox, and pay some attention to the last real journalism being done on cable TV by the folks at CNN. They did some fast, sound and fine work again on a huge political story -- delivering the journalistic goods once again so that the sit-on-their-butt partisans on Fox and MSNBC will have something to actually talk about Tuesday night.

Continue reading "CNN shines in instant coverage of Arlen Specter story" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 1:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (17)
Categories: CNN, Cable and Network News, Fox News, MSNBC, TV and Politics
        

For the first in the history of cable TV news, MSNBC has drawn a larger prime-time audience than CNN. And Fox continues to build the largest audience of all from 8 to 11 p.m. each night, the most lucrative part of the broadcast day.

That's the news from the March ratings period, and as much as I would like to be dispassionate about it, I just can't. That's because I know how dangerous a trend we have here with viewers flocking to fiercely-partisan, ideologically-driven opinion-based programs as they abandon productions that seek to provide down-the-middle coverage, verified information and analysis that explores all sides of issues.

In this time of national crisis, it is no small matter that viewers are choosing the bombast and posturing of Keith Olbermann on the left, and Bill O'Reilly on the right  just when sound information is needed more than ever.

Continue reading "MSNBC beats CNN in prime time - and Fox wins it all" »

Posted by David Zurawik at 8:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)
Categories: CNN, Cable and Network News, Fox News, MSNBC, Ratings
        

A Baltimore trauma surgeon, Dr. Carnell Cooper, was named "Hero of the Week" by CNN today. He will be interviewed on Larry King Live at 9 tonight. Dr, Cooper will also be profiled Friday on CNN's American Morning.

CNN sent the following information in an e-mail explaining why Dr. Cooper, of the University of Maryland Medical System, was judged to be one of its “ordinary people doing extraordinary things.” 

Dr. Carnell Cooper is a Baltimore trauma surgeon who got tired of patching up young men, only to see them return with another violent injury. In 1998, he started the Violence Intervention Program, one of the country’s first hospital-based anti-violence efforts. To date, he estimates that his group has provided counseling and support services to nearly 500 people. What’s more, a 2006 study authored by Cooper and his colleagues – and published in the Journal of Trauma -- proved the program’s effectiveness. Program members were six times less likely to come back to the hospital with a violent injury, and three times less likely to be arrested for a violent crime.  It’s a track record of success that has made Cooper’s program a model for others around the country.

Posted by David Zurawik at 5:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Baltimore Television, CNN, Cable and Network News