This Is CNN (Vaulted)

[mythoughtis]

CNN talks a good game, but didn't walk it.   I turned on CNN New Day this morning, and heard the new voice-over of the anchor's names.  Kate was replaced over the weekend with the woman that has been filling in for her.  So much for all CNN's liberal leanings, they replace a woman permanently while she is on maternity leave.  ;

 

Yes, New Day needed retooled.... but they replaced the wrong person with the wrong person.  Kate was the anchor on this show that I liked most... with CNN's new golden boy, Chris being my least.  Michaela has a limited presence, and does do the role assigned to her appropriately.   Kate always seemed both professional and knowledgeable.  The new anchor seems professional, but is far too stiff in front of the cameras and follows Christ's lead of wearing her opinions on her sleeve. 

[stormy]

The Kate thing= weird. I was puzzled by it to.

But I've never liked the morning show since Soledad left. She was the best thing going for CNN.

[Dejana]

CNN was showing Forensic Files last night. Are they just hoping prerecorded series, specials and crime shows will lift the network's overall average?

[Guest]

Why is Anderson Cooper hosting a game show on CNN right now?

[aguabella]

Why is Anderson Cooper hosting a game show on CNN right now?

 

Happened to catch a couple segments of that and it appeared fun.  Unfortunately, it disappeared from the OnDemand. 

 

They had 3 contestant pairs, consisting of various CNN anchors, playing for charity.  Each segment's questions were presented in various game show formats.  For example, IIRC, I saw them playing Pyramid and Jeopardy.

 

Unfortunately, I didn't see the conclusion but the sharpest contestants were John Berman and Jake Tapper.  (Chris Cuomo - uh - rutro - nah.)  IIRC, the lead was fluctuating between John and Jake's teams.

 

Anderson, OTOH, may be the smartest of all, IMHO.  Volunteer to host and that way, you don't whiff under pressure, in front of ??? millions of viewers, rerun ??? times, lol!

 

 

ETA:  IIRC, the overall topic was "The Presidents" but individual segments featured subcategories, e.g. First Ladies, WH children, etc.  Sounded like John and Jake had either studied or had some assistance in advance - IDK???  Overall, the entire show felt fun and light-hearted with tons of good natured ribbing between the contestants.

Edited February 25, 2015 by aguabella

[selhars]

My question about CNN for a while now...given that ratings are so off from what they were, is: What's the plan for improving?

 

One night I'll tune in and it's Anderson hosting news...the next night it's a frigging pre-taped show? What is CNN doing with the programming. It's all over the place. I mean like crazy inconsistent.

 

The one thing about Larry King was Day in day out....big news day or nothing going on....you knew the programming you'd get.

WHY -- WHY -- they chose Piers Morgan to replace Larry King I still dont' get. He sucked from day one. Heck, he sucked before he started. And instead of dumping him paying out his contract...they committed hara-kirion their own programming. It was crazy.

 

DON LEMON should have gotten that show, or Katie (Couric) or someone who -- like Larry King -- can do ALL KINDS OF INTERVIEWS. SO that IF you have a breaking news story they can do that kind of 'journalistic' interview -- and do a celebrity interview.

 

WHY on earth DON"T they go BACK to that -- a 9p lynch pin show...M-F, that can be topic of the day, or celeb, or whatever. NOT TALKING HEADS, a host who can do JOURNALISM, and features. They DO have those kinds of people on staff already -- OR go FIND ONE. Hell rotate the hosts but keep the SHOW the same. But you can't have news one night -- and a Morgan Spurlock show another -- and frigging Anthony Bourdain the next. You're a frigging NEWS NETWORK.

Edited February 27, 2015 by selhars

[Rick Kitchen]

Don Lemon is too tainted right now.

[junemeatcleaver]

I agree they a new Larry King current events/interview type show.  The Piers Morgan experiment was one of the biggest mistakes CNN has ever made.  The only reason I can think of why they hired him was they were hoping yokels would tune in to see the British bastard from America's Got Talent.  It can't be because of his UK interview show because I think he was horrible on that one too.

 

To give CNN some credit, I do think it is a good idea for them to stick with the overnight CNNI simulcast.  Newsreaders actually reading the news instead of personalities trying to be cute, they should try more of that.

[3pwood]

To give CNN some credit, I do think it is a good idea for them to stick with the overnight CNNI simulcast.  Newsreaders actually reading the news instead of personalities trying to be cute, they should try more of that.

 

I started watching CNN-International for the first time a couple of years ago when it was added to my cable package.  I soon found that it's such an improvement over CNN-USA that now I can hardly stand to watch the domestic broadcasts.  I agree that it's good for the viewers to have it available overnight, but CNN-USA suffers so much by comparison that this may be a poor idea for them.

[selhars]

My problem with CNN now is, it's so far gone from Larry King and it made SUCH a mistake with Piers Morgan for so long.....that I don't trust TPTB to even program a good Larry King-like show. They'll either pick the wrong host, or try to come up with some creative format, or have talking heads on it.

 

Just give viewers a GOOD HOST, who can do hard news, feature, and celebrity interviews. Larry King isn't the only person in the world who can do that.

 

Don Lemon would have been perfect for it at that time. And he still may be. How 'tainted' he is from other things I personally don't know.

Anderson could also do it. ((I know his "talk show" flopped. But I don't think his heart was ever in that. He never really seemed into it, to me. It was like he did it because it was an opportunity and I guess people were saying he'd be great -- and crazy NOT to do. Personally I always DID wonder how he found the time. I mean the man is anchoring a nightly show, flying all over the place covered God knows what kind of breaking news....how did anyone THINK he'd be able to do a talk show, TOO?

 

Anyway,I just think CNN needs a consistent prime time lynch pin show. If they LEAVE Anderson's news show in a slot that COULD be it. But it can't be that viewers tune in one night and find news -- or Morgan Spurlock, another night, Anthony Bourdain. Love Spurlock and Bourdain on weekENDS, but weekNIGHTS. Aperson is tuning in for Anderson and it's some taped show. WTH? ... as the booming voice of James Earl Jones said -- THIS is CNN, remember?

 

At least with Larry King I would tune in every night to see what/who was on...even if I didn't stick around, I'd check it out. But I haven't even tuned in to CNN at night (consistently) since Piers Morgan took over the show. That's how much his choice turned me off. I check out CNN more weekend nights for their specials, documentaries, Lis aling, Spurlock, Bourdain -- more than I tune in during the week.

 

The Roger Ebert documentary film was EXCELLENT. I've watched it twice so far.

Edited March 1, 2015 by selhars

[Guest]

Don Lemon would have been perfect for it at that time. And he still may be. How 'tainted' he is from other things I personally don't know.

 

He's not tainted by a scandal , right?  He's just the guy that comes across as an idiot and not a serious journalist these days.  The taint is interviewing llamas and stuff like that?

Edited March 1, 2015 by ParadoxLost

[3pwood]

He's not tainted by a scandal , right?  He's just the guy that comes across as an idiot and not a serious journalist these days.  The taint is interviewing llamas and stuff like that?

 

I haven't heard about any scandals, just some stupid, insensitive things he said while covering the demonstrations in Ferguson, MO & interviewing one of Bill Cosby's accusers.  I haven't seen him interview any llamas either, but I'll bet they'd be more dignified & profound than Mr. Lemon.

[Guest]

I haven't heard about any scandals, just some stupid, insensitive things he said while covering the demonstrations in Ferguson, MO & interviewing one of Bill Cosby's accusers.  I haven't seen him interview any llamas either, but I'll bet they'd be more dignified & profound than Mr. Lemon.

 

 

It hurts me that the news has come to this.

Edited March 1, 2015 by ParadoxLost

[mythoughtis]

Don Lemon isn't 'tainted' by scandal..... he just brings way too much of his own agenda into his program.   I want the news, not Don's opinion on social issues.  Same with Chris Cuomo, he can't just do the news, he has to tell me how I am supposed to feel about it.   Anderson does a better job of being a little more circumspect about it.

 

I am tired of CNNs repetitive taped shows.  I don't care about Morgan Spurlock or Anthony Bordain (sp?) or Blackfish (for the 150th repeat of the broadcast) or Death Row Stories.  I have other channels for that stuff.  I want a good 24 hour news station.  I do like CNNI when it comes on because it is the News as it is right then, not a 3rd repeat of Andersons nightly broadcast. 

[Darian]

I haven't been watching much CNN, but have had it on for the the last couple of weeks to follow the Freddie Gray case. Good grief, Ashleigh Banfield made me want to throw something at the TV. Baltimore Councilman Carl Stokes got into a contentious exchange with Erin Burnett about the term "thug," which he argued has become racialized, coded language, applied unequally to blacks. At one point, he said, "Just call them [n-word]." The next morning, Ashleigh Banfield interviewed Councilman Stokes, but first had to tell him how livid she was the he used that word and how "It’s just so painful to hear it no matter what color we are."

 

He showed remarkable restraint and simply did the interview. But she made me livid. I found it "so painful to hear" a white woman lecture a black man about a word he was using to make a point that I think she missed. 

[mythoughtis]

Oh, poor CNN, so torn.... do they cover the protests or the new royal baby?   How about they cover the thousands of people dead in Nepal, or any of the other thousands of important stories in the world.  We do not need 24 hour coverage of Baltimore.  We need SOME coverage of Baltimore and other protests... but it's not the only important news that is affecting peoples' lives. We don't need more than 5 words an hour about the new royal baby (especially here in the US).

 

Maybe I AM old and white, but I consider 'thug' to mean someone that participates in terrorizing (in the traditional sense, not the terrorist sense) individuals by looting, burning cars and structures, by preventing firefighters from putting said fires out, by injuring over a 100 police officers, or by any of the methods that criminals use to intimidate victims before they actually commit a crime against them.  I could care less about their race.  I realize labels are controversial.... but thug is a much quicker, less wordy way to say all the stuff I just typed when I defined the word.   I totally get the points people are making about the poverty and lack of opportunities in the neighborhood, but that doesn't give anyone a pass on doing what they did Monday night.   When those events happen, the perpetrators shift from being poverty stricken unemployed individuals into criminals. 

 

For what it's worth, I welcome charges against the officers - although I wonder if all six can be found guilty of anything besides unlawful arrest if the actual event happened in the van in the presence of only one of them and after the other 5s' involvement ceased.

Edited May 2, 2015 by mythoughtis

[stormy]

Excellent segment Anderson did last night on the Duggars.

Anderson was sincerely appalled about the entire family's behavior regarding Josh.

His panel (well except for Dr Drew) was great with their insights as well.

[jjj]

I never see CNN during the day, but sheesh, I was home today and saw the discussion about removing the SC Confederate flag from the Capitol -- and the anchor said to an interviewee:  "Do you think this will provide the *inertia* to do the ummm to do the thing?"  (emphasis mine)  Wow, please write out the script for these anchors. 

[3pwood]

jjj, who was the anchor?

[jjj]

jjj, who was the anchor?

Honestly, I don't know the daytime anchors -- male, and either the 2:00 or 3:00 PM hour, ET.  I may find the transcript, because it was so very garbled. 

[Wax Lion]

 

(I know his "talk show" flopped. But I don't think his heart was ever in that. He never really seemed into it, to me. It was like he did it because it was an opportunity and I guess people were saying he'd be great -- and crazy NOT to do.

 

Actually, I suspect that was a situation like Katie Couric. I think he wanted to do a talk show but didn't realize how much the business changed and that stations won't allow another Oprah to happen. They require talk shows have 4-6 different segments per episode (IMO that's the problem with Dr Oz, there's so many topics to fill he has to turn to quackery) and don't think their viewers will watch a show that spends the whole hour on a topic or guest. Couric's show quickly ran into trouble because her segments would go overtime and they'd spend extra time editing it down. I suspect the addition of guest hosts in Anderson's second season was an effort to sneak a way to talk to one guest for the whole episode while having several different topics. Couric thought she could spend her show spending a whole hour on a topic and I wouldn't be surprised that's what Andeson expected when he signed up.

[3pwood]

He said that he wanted to do something like Phil Donahue's show, which he'd enjoyed watching as a child.  I saw it when I was a young adult & remember a whole hour being devoted to Carl Sagan.  I never much cared for Donahue, but he did have some guests worth seeing & they were given time to discuss their subject.  Current talk shows seem designed for an audience full of people with short attention spans who are too impatient to explore anything in depth. 

[FuriousStyles]

Don Lemon and Sunny Hostin were going at it last night (with Trinidad James of all people sitting next to them) about Pres. Obama's use of the word nigger. Don thought it was perfectly fine given the context and added that as a journalist, HE too has free reign to use the word while covering the story about Obama using it or for any other journalistic purpose. Sunny says like the Confederate flag, the word should be retired, and it was "beneath" the Office of the Presidency to use it.

I just thought it was interesting how two grown people were on tv literally saying "you're wrong...NO you're wrong!...NO YOU'RE WRONG!

[stormy]

There's also Jake Tapper 4 till 5 pm

[3pwood]

There's also John something-starting-with-B at some point during the day.  But neither he nor Tapper is stupid or inarticulate enough to say what jjj quotes -- Lemon is both, in my opinion.  Or maybe the man in question wasn't the anchor but a correspondent interviewing someone?

[jjj]

I do know Don Lemon, and it was not him -- white man, dark hair.   I might have the time wrong, as I am on the West Coast and converting to ET zone for the post later in the day.  But the quote was right, because I was at my computer, and so appalled that I typed the words right after he said them.  

[junemeatcleaver]

[W]hite man, dark hair.

 

It has to be either John Berman or Jake Tapper, they're the only white guys with dark hair that are on during the daytime.  I could be some random reporter whose name I don't know.  It could be Chris Cuomo, but he comes on super early in the morning.

[nicepebbles]

My husband usually turns on CNN when he comes home from work or watches it as he puts our youngest to sleep (the girl just has to be rocked).  I remember over lunch or dinner one day him going on and on about how he lost so much respect for Don Lemon, Sunny Anderson (IIRC) and Marc Lamont Hill from the Huffington Post I think. I remember him saying he doesn't like Don Lemon now because since Ferguson he's been sensationalizing stuff or fanning the flames trying to get a story. (I agree that he's not neutral.)  The other two said some crazy stuff according to my about the Baltimore situation.

 

I have to give CNN the side eye, too. To be fair I give the side-eye to a lot of journalism today.  Print journalism needs better editors.  When I'm watching the news on TV, some of the questions are riduculous or soft ball questions.  Or if the person doesn't answer, there is no "hey, you didn't answer the question."  Or no obvious follow up on questions that should be followed up on.  If I can see that, shouldn' the professional be able to see that?

 

Case in point: I think it was during Outfront.  It was a report on the McKinney situation.  The reporter (don't know who because he was off screen) asks one of the kids "What was the incident about?"  The kid goes "It was about kids."  Then cut to Erin.  If that reporter didn't ask a follow up question like, "Do you mean kids being kids?, Kids not respecting the police? What?"  Shame on him.  Or shame on the editors because his answer made absolutely no sense in the context of the story.  Then Erin interviews a local radio personality about his take on the situation.  She doesn't follow up and ask about his opinion of the officer's arrest of the young girl he had on the ground at all.  That's a huge part of the story.

[3pwood]

If Joy Behar had taken over the Larry King show, she might have  interviewed the surviving NY prison escaper & would have asked him good questions about how the escape happened.  Before he started to go senile, Larry King might have done the same. Lost opportunities on an interesting story.

[junemeatcleaver]

The surviving NY prison escapee most likely will be unavailable for interviews for the foreseeable future, so it's not a missed opportunity yet.

 

According to Brian Stelter, people in the US who have a cable/satellite provider username and password can now watch CNN International on CNNgo.  I still say the CNN powers that be should make CNNI more widely available in the US by giving them the HLN spot on the dial.  CNNI couldn't possibly pull in worse ratings than HLN does now.

[Cobb Salad]

I agree. Comcast (at least in my area) shows BBC World and Al Jazeera so why not CNN International?

[GHScorpiosRule]

Late to the party, but I just discovered The Seventies, and I have to say how riveting, yes, riveting, I find all of the episodes shown so far.  I am a child of the '70s and as I watched, I said to myself, I was a baby at that time, I was three, four...

 

But what really struck me, and maybe it's because I've gotten cynical, or we live in an age of social media, was how apathetic we've all become.  I say that after watching how people protested the Vietnam war, or everything, basically, and made themselves heard. Or was I just seeing what I wanted to see?

 

I am surprised though, that when they covered the Watergate scandal, that they didn't have Woodward or Bernstein to speak about it. Maybe they didn't want to talk about it?

 

And my heart broke a little when I saw Walter Cronkite. I grew up watching him and he was the STANDARD for me. I miss him still.

 

I'm bummed that The Sixties aren't available On Demand, like The Seventies is.

[biakbiak]

Enjoyed might not be the right word because at times it was heartbreaking but I thought Glen Campbell...I'll Be Me was quite good. Nice blend of music, the showmanship, with the deterioration and medical issues.

The young son of two of the tour crew was so sweet "I'm around so much so he doesn't forget me as much.

[stormy]

That's Gary Tuckman

[ennui]

When did CNN stop being a news channel? I watched last week when they showed the Glen Campbell documentary. That’s not news, that’s IFC.

[WendyCR72]

When did CNN stop being a news channel? I watched last week when they showed the Glen Campbell documentary. That’s not news, that’s IFC.

 

True, but that documentary is playing as I type this and DAMN. As one who lost her grandmother in part to the horror that is Alzheimer's, it is just such a gut punch. And captures the love, frustration, and unfairness of it all.

[biakbiak]

I would rather watch well done documentaries like Glen Campbell or Blackfish than Wolf Blitzer or Don Lemon doing the "news."

Edited to add "I'm not gonna miss you" might be one of the most amazingly heartbreaking beautiful songs ever. It should have tied with Glory at the Oscars!

Edited July 4, 2015 by biakbiak

[OSM Mom]

I'm sick of everything on cnn being "breaking news" Seriously. Not everything qualifies.

[Wax Lion]

 

When did CNN stop being a news channel? I watched last week when they showed the Glen Campbell documentary. That’s not news, that’s IFC.

 

Ever since Jeff Zucker was put in charge. When he was in charge of NBC Universal, he got the MSNBC schedule filled with Lockup which got good ratings and could be repeated endlessly so it's cheap way to fill the time. Documentaries are a better way for CNN to fill its schedule without paying people to be on TV.

[OSM Mom]

Fortunately, my local news hasnt picked up on that yet. They're too busy hyper pronouncing everything, saying every Spanish word with as hard an accent as possible and dropping the letter t out of words.

[OSM Mom]

I should have kept the screenshot on my phone from last summer, of one of push notifications I got as breaking news to alert me how Orange Is The New Black - "led by Wayland native Taylor Schilling" - did in the Emmy nominations. Seriously.

*facepalm*

[Maizie131]

Enjoyed might not be the right word because at times it was heartbreaking but I thought Glen Campbell...I'll Be Me was quite good. Nice blend of music, the showmanship, with the deterioration and medical issues.

The young son of two of the tour crew was so sweet "I'm around so much so he doesn't forget me as much.

biakbiak - I watched this, also, and you're right - it was enjoyable and heartbreaking at the same time (and very well done).  My brother died of Alzheimer's on June 2nd.  It's just a horrible disease. 

[OSM Mom]

I'm sick of hearing the term "speaking out" GAH! Cnn is terrible about it.

[annzeepark914]

Fortunately, my local news hasnt picked up on that yet. They're too busy hyper pronouncing everything, saying every Spanish word with as hard an accent as possible and dropping the letter t out of words.

I wish I could remember who did a skit showing TV news anchors pronouncing every Spanish name and/or word with a latino accent.  They wondered why Irish names weren't given the same treatment, and provided a hilarious example of what that would sound like (lovely OTT old country pronunciations of names like O'Brien, Shaughnessy, etc).

[OSM Mom]

I live in a border town and always have, but this ridiculous accent thing is fairly recent. I would love to see that skit.

[3pwood]

I live in a border town and always have, but this ridiculous accent thing is fairly recent. I would love to see that skit.

 

The Italian version of that is Giada De Laurentiis on Food Network & Cooking Channel.  I think that respect should be shown for all cultures, including their languages -- but some speakers go so far that it sounds as if they're making fun of the language they're speaking.

[OSM Mom]

Around here, they're afraid of offending some thin skinned idiots.

[pandora spocks]

"Late to the party, but I just discovered The Seventies, and I have to say how riveting, yes, riveting, I find all of the episodes shown so far."

When I watched the first episode about 1970's tv, there was much discussion about the groundbreaking "All in the Family." With the overabundance of political correctness these days, this show would have been shelved, no questions asked.

[stormy]

How Anderson kept a straight face during his Trump interview is a wonder.

Trump's "you're no baby" to Anderson, I guess was meant to be, "you're not stupid, Anderson".

Anderson has so much class and really it showed with him sitting with Trump.

Edited July 9, 2015 by stormy

[Dirtybubble]

 

I too am enjoying The Seventies specials they are airing on Thursdays.  I didn't see it last night but I have it saved on my DVR for today.  Between this show and Somebody's Gotta Do It with Mike Rowe CNN is really turning itself into a channel competitive network channel with good programming.  

 

And of course as long as it's home to AC 360 I'm always in!

How Anderson kept a straight face during his Trump interview is a wonder.
Trump's "you're no baby" to Anderson, I guess was meant to be, "you're not stupid, Anderson".
Anderson has so much class and really it showed with him sitting with Trump.

IKR?!  I won't get into my opinion of Donald Trump but I just adore Anderson Cooper and I thought he handled that interview well.