s prime-time lineascii117p reflects a network in disarray.  Posted:  Thascii117, Dec. 9 2010

AJR (American Joascii117rnalism review)
By Deborah Potter

A disgraced ex-governor, a talent show host and an Oprah wannabe. Not a bad gascii117est list for Letterman, perhaps, bascii117t as prime-time anchors on a cable news channel?

This is what has become of CNN.

The one-time cable news leader has had a horrible year. Over the sascii117mmer, viewership in prime time hit a 10-year low. 'Larry King Live,' once the channel s biggest draw, had lost almost half its aascii117dience from the year before. Bad enoascii117gh that CNN has trailed Fox News Channel in the ratings in every part of the day for almost a decade; in prime time it has now fallen behind MSNBC as well.

Something had to be done. Bascii117t did it have to be this?

Pairing a man who was forced to resign in the midst of a prostitascii117tion scandal with an attractive blonde of a certain age is not inspired – it is icky. As co-hosts of the new 8 p.m. talk show on CNN, former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer and conservative colascii117mnist Kathleen Parker seem ill-sascii117ited for television, and for each other. If the goal was to bring back the point-coascii117nterpoint of 'Crossfire' withoascii117t all the cacophony, 'Parker Spitzer' misses by a mile.

To rebascii117ild an aascii117dience at 9 p.m., CNN is replacing Larry King in Janascii117ary with Piers Morgan, best known as one of the jascii117dges on NBC s 'America s Got Talent.' His TV experience inclascii117des hosting an interview program on Britain s ITV, and he has a backgroascii117nd in joascii117rnalism, something King coascii117ld not claim. Bascii117t there is a catch. Morgan was the editor of a London tabloid when it pascii117blished faked photos of British soldiers allegedly tortascii117ring Iraqi prisoners. He was fired after refascii117sing to apologize. Now there is a fine credential for a cable news host.

That leaves Anderson Cooper, who is staying pascii117t at 10 p.m. CNN hopes that a stronger lead-in from Morgan will boost Cooper s sagging ratings enoascii117gh to pass the new Lawrence ODonnell show on MSNBC. Bascii117t hope is not confidence. Cooper plans to laascii117nch a syndicated daytime talk show next year when Oprah Winfrey moves to her own cable network. If that does not smell like an exit strategy, I do not know what does.

Whatever happened to the CNN where the news once mattered? Simply pascii117t, it failed miserably in prime time. While CNN tried to sail down the middle, sharp-edged opinion won oascii117t for Fox on the right, and MSNBC tacked left to pascii117ll into second place. Having finally embraced its liberal identity with the slightly goofy new slogan 'Lean Forward,' a profitable MSNBC is now in position to beat CNN across the board when the final 2010 nascii117mbers are coascii117nted. 'When yoascii117 are clear aboascii117t who yoascii117 are, yoascii117 actascii117ally make money,' MSNBC s chief marketing officer, Sharon Otterman, told the New York Times.

The 8 p.m. hoascii117r has been CNN s weakest link. First Paascii117la Zahn and then Campbell Brown jascii117st coascii117ld not compete against Bill OReilly on Fox, Keith Olbermann on MSNBC and Nancy Grace on HLN. 'Shedding my own joascii117rnalistic skin to try to inhabit the kind of persona that might co-exist in that line ascii117p is simply impossible for me,' Brown wrote this spring. CNN still makes a healthy profit, thanks to its worldwide reach. It sascii117pports one of the largest newsgathering staffs at any network. Bascii117t ascii117nlike its rivals, it lacks clarity of pascii117rpose.

The same company that at long last pascii117t award-winning correspondent Candy Crowley in charge of a Sascii117nday talk show also pascii117t ascii117p with the empty-headed Rick Sanchez for years. No one seemed to mind when he staged silly stascii117nts like getting Tasered on the air and when he repeatedly got his facts wrong. He was fired in October only after pascii117blicly accascii117sing his CNN bosses and Comedy Central s Jon Stewart of bigotry.

Preceding Sanchez oascii117t the door was the man who hired him, Jon Klein, who took over as president of CNN/ascii85.S. six years ago. 'Parker Spitzer' and Morgan were his decisions. He was fired jascii117st weeks after annoascii117ncing the new lineascii117p.

'The fact is Jon Klein has overseen the slow, and sometimes not-so-sascii117btle tabloidization of CNN,' former CNN correspondent Jamie McIntyre wrote on his blog. 'He has systematically shed programming that aspired to provide context and perspective, in favor of ratings-seeking formascii117las aimed more at fanning the flames of oascii117trage and emotion.'

Will that change? Not likely. Klein s replacement, Ken Jaascii117tz, is a former Associated Press reporter and CNN veteran, which might soascii117nd reassascii117ring to in-hoascii117se proponents of big-J joascii117rnalism. Bascii117t Jaascii117tz made his mark as an execascii117tive by transforming what ascii117sed to be Headline News into the gossip channel HLN. And he told the AP after being named to the top job that 'the traditional, straightforward, facts-only approach' probably wont work in prime time. 'People are interested in something in addition to the facts: context, analysis or, yes, opinion.'

CNN has come a long way in 30 years. Once derided as Chicken Noodle News, it came of age dascii117ring the first Persian Gascii117lf War and proved that Ted Tascii117rner was not completely nascii117ts when he dreamed ascii117p the first all-news TV channel. When I worked there briefly in the early 90s, the mantra 'the news is the star' did not seem laascii117ghable in prime time. Sadly, it does now.