CNN

Mondo Times editors    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 10:55am on Monday, February 1st, 2010

Candy Crowley Named New 'State of the Union' Anchor, CNN announced on February 1, 2010:

"Senior political correspondent Candy Crowley has been named anchor of CNN's Sunday morning political program, State of the Union, it was announced today by Jonathan Klein, president, CNN/U.S. The program will continue the tradition of hosting a political hour of newsmaker interviews along with analysis of the week's most important issues.

"Candy's rare combination of shrewd insight and healthy irreverence for the games politicians play has made her one of the most honored political journalists and a cult figure among CNN viewers," said Klein. "Every Sunday she'll translate Washington-speak into plain English that every American can understand, as she has been doing better than any reporter on the beat for decades."

"To me, Sunday morning is a sweet spot - a weekly meeting place to bring the hopes, worries and questions of everyday Americans I talk with along the campaign trail to the people I talk with in the Corridors of Power," says Crowley. "Add to those conversations, interviews with A-team experts and international heavyweights making sense of global issues and what you have is interesting, relevant information. I can't wait."

An award-winning political journalist, Crowley joins the ranks of the network's all-star Sunday lineup that includes Christiane Amanpour and Fareed Zakaria.

State of the Union launched one year ago with CNN's chief national correspondent John King at the helm, and quickly became the most-quoted of the Sunday morning talk shows. In the wake of that success, it was recently announced that King would take over the weekday 7 p.m. program, which will launch in February.

Since joining CNN in 1987, Crowley's assignments have taken her to all 50 states and around the world. She most recently served as the network's senior political correspondent covering a broad range of stories, including presidential, congressional and gubernatorial races and major legislative developments on Capitol Hill.

As a member of the Peabody Award-winning "Best Political Team on Television," she played a pivotal role in CNN's America Votes 2008 coverage, traveling to both conventions, every debate and additional stops along the campaign trail. Crowley earned a prestigious Gracie Allen Award in 2009 for her coverage of Hillary Clinton's bid for the White House. She also was part of the network's Emmy Award-winning 2006 mid-term election coverage.

In her career, Crowley has covered the presidential campaigns of Pat Buchanan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Howard Dean, Bob Dole, Jesse Jackson, Edward Kennedy, John Kerry, Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan, among others. Since the presidential nomination of Jimmy Carter, she has covered all but one of the national political conventions.

Mondo Times editors    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 1:57pm on Friday, January 22nd, 2010

CNN's reporting on the Massachusetts election and the Haiti earthquake draws praise from a print dinosaur.

Sir Harold Evans opined in The Daily Beast on January 20, 2010:

"The big win of the week isn’t just Scott Brown ousting Martha Coakley in Massachusetts, despite the appeal of two Democratic presidents. Score a double triumph for CNN. On the election and on Haiti, I’d say CNN has come into its own, once again justifying its slogan “The Worldwide Leader in News” and founder Ted Turner’s faith in his innovation.

I come from the antideluvian branch of journalism (print), but I'd still argue that even in the whizz-bang age of electronic journalism straight reporting beats spin every time. The cable news channels were so busy canceling each other out with talking heads putting either left or right slants on what might happen in the Massachusetts Senate race, they let CNN steal a march with precinct-by-precinct reporting of the actual results. That’s what we were waiting for."

The full story:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-01-20/who-won-cnn

Mondo Times editors    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 7:31am on Monday, December 28th, 2009

CNN Pays For Cell Phone Image Related To Christmas Terror Incident, Mediaite reported on December 26, 2009:

"The passenger on Northwest Flight 253 being billed as a hero for helping subdue Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab will tell you his story – but only if you pay him money.

But Jasper Schuringa was already on CNN, you say? Well CNN paid up.

You’ll notice CNN’s eight-minute interview with Schuringa earlier today was a little awkward, especially at the end. Around the five-minute mark, Schuringa looks uncomfortable, saying “but I don’t really want to talk about that,” and “ok, well thank you very much,” while trying to end the interview. Anchor Fredricka Whitfield, continued the questions however, while what sounds like an argument can be heard off-screen.

Here’s what it sounds like happened: CNN tells Mediaite they paid a “licensing fee” for the exclusive cell phone image, which they have been using throughout the day. TVNewser reports, “Insiders tell us other networks are vying to buy the image for upwards of $10,000.”

The full story:
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/cnn-pays-for-cell-phone-image-plane-hero-wants-payment-for-interview/

Mondo Times editors    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 11:32am on Thursday, December 17th, 2009

CNN Finishes Behind MSNBC In Annual Prime-Time Ratings, the New York Times reported on December 16, 2009:

"CNN will finish 2009 behind MSNBC in prime-time ratings, the first time CNN has ever trailed a competitor other than the Fox News Channel over a full calendar year.

In recent months, CNN, which continues to stand behind its policy of steering clear of the opinion-based shows that draw large prime-time audiences for its competitors, has also trailed its own sister network, HLN (formerly Headline News). CNN has frequently finished fourth in the news channel category."

The full story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/business/media/17cnn.html