Friday, June 24, 2005
Klein:FNC sounds a little nervous. Guess what, they should be because we haven't even started trying yet
Source: Dallas News.com This just in: The new CNN wants to be a lot more like the old CNN in hopes of enticing hard news loyalists who "have abandoned us for the Internet."
So says Jonathan Klein, a former CBS News executive who became president of CNN/U.S. in November with an eye toward retro-reinventing the cable news pathfinder in its 25th year.CNN founder Ted Turner "was onto something very powerful," Mr. Klein said Friday. "We ought to embrace what has always made us special rather than drift away from it. ...
"Literally thousands of stories break every day. But on any given day, conventional wisdom arises, and you get the same five stories on the cable news channels. That's a big reason why television has lost so many news consumers to the Web. ... Breadth and in-depth reporting are what we have to repossess and reclaim."
In short, "We don't mind having quality be our shtick," Mr. Klein said.
It all sounds pretty radical in these times. Hello to hard news and goodbye to shout-fests such as Crossfire and Capital Gang. What a concept. But was it a tough sell?
"I wouldn't call it resistance. I'd call it a pleasant surprise for the troops here, who are embracing the challenge to get back to our roots and just cover the news with no frills," Mr. Klein said. "I grew up in this business over the last 25 years. During that time we've seen the decline of real news and the rise of 'infotainment.'
"Some of it was a necessary antidote to what had became a real stuffy, ivory tower,
eastern establishment, we-know-better-than-the-audience mentality. But then things went too far. The low point probably was Leonardo DiCaprio reporting on the environment for ABC News. That was just ludicrous!"A Fox news release crowed: "CNN's prime-time and total day programming continued to deteriorate with double-digit losses in viewership under the leadership of Jonathan Klein."
In the last year, however, CNN closed the prime-time gap slightly among the principal news target audience of 25- to 54-year-olds. But it did so only by losing fewer viewers from May to May than Fox did.
Mr. Klein, nonetheless, sees a silver lining.
"They sound a little nervous," he said of Fox. "And guess what, they should be. Because we haven't even started trying yet."
Read the Complete article HERE.
# posted by ATN @ 9:52 PM 
