John King Interviews
The AP’s David Bauder interviews John King just a few hours after it was announced he’d be getting the 7pm time slot…
King has been a top political reporter at CNN since 1997, when he joined from The Associated Press. He hosts the Sunday program, “State of the Union,” which he will be giving up early next year.
He said Thursday that he wants his show to bring more depth to issues, to get beyond a phrase like “public option” to explain what it really means. There will be provocative discussions, and guests with many different opinions will be welcomed.
“I’m going to do what I think needs to be done,” he said. “I think over time that viewers, if they compare and contrast, will be getting more meat” from his show than his competitors.
Update: The LA Times’ Matea Gold has a more in depth interview with King…
King vowed not to let his new program succumb to inside-the-Beltway conversations, noting that he travels to a different state each week for his current show. “I’ve worked in Washington for 20 years, so I’m part of the problem,” he said. “But I also get out of Washington as much as I can, and I just think that sometimes we forget to connect what’s being done in Washington to the lives of people, to make it relevant.”
One of the ways King hopes to do that is with the use of CNN’s “magic wall,” a massive screen that he employed deftly during the 2008 campaign to quickly zero in on voting districts, demographics and voting breakdowns. This year, he has used the panel to illustrate other stories, such as the hometowns of the soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“You can use this technology to make it more accessible, to bring people closer,” he said. “Smart people realize that things are changing and we have to adapt. But we don’t have to give up our principles and give up our passion.”
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