I would say that Variety’s Brian Lowry offers up a devastating critique of CNN. Except it’s one he’s already offered up before, at least in part.
What CNN needs, perhaps desperately, is an interviewer with the stature and gravitas of Ted Koppel, who in his “Nightline” days was able to cut to the heart of issues, without ever raising his tone of voice. Instead, CNN trots out a mostly undistinguished roster of talent — especially during the daytime hours, when news, or something like it, reigns on its competitors — then enshrouds them with distracting technological toys, from King’s “magic wall” to holograms to the new infatuation with gleaning viewer reaction from Twitter and comments posted online.
As for King, watching him interview newsmakers and travel the U.S. engaging in unenlightening chats with local folks hasn’t inspired much faith that the network’s “great hope,” as Marketwatch’s Jon Friedman proclaimed him, has a puncher’s chance of succeeding. He raised similar doubts at last summer’s TV Critics Assn. tour, when he defended CNN’s coverage of bogus controversies — usually percolating up from talkradio, such as the “birther” movement — by saying that journalists “don’t get to decide” what conversations are legitimate.
Such mealy-mouthed practices, along with CNN’s reliance on gadgets and gimmickry, have made the channel a frequent object of derision among those who should be in its corner — critics hungry for smarter, less politically tainted news. “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” has been especially brutal in dissecting CNN’s shortcomings when the channel doesn’t fulfill its stated journalism-first mandate, exhibiting disappointment with CNN because, based in part on its lengthier history, less is expected of its rivals.
