Mark Whitaker Interview…

NPR’s David Folkenflik interviews CNN’s Mark Whitaker…

Whitaker says the news channel is taking stock, studying its audiences and its coverage to figure out where to go next. But given the network’s rich roster of correspondents scattered across the globe, Whitaker says, he believes CNN’s distinctiveness lies in its foreign coverage. He points to its handling of the uprisings in Arab countries, the tsunami and nuclear crisis in Japan, the riots in Greece and the political consequences of the killing of Osama bin Laden.

“We were making the commitment of airtime which allowed us not just to be there first, but once we were there, to tell the human stories — to do the in-depth analysis — to have the smart discussions in our prime-time shows,” Whitaker said.