CHRYSLER AGREES TO RECALL 2.7 MIL OLDER JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE AND LIBERTY SUVS THAT COULD BE AT RISK OF A FUEL TANK FIRE *

RECALL AFFECTS GRAND CHEROKEES FROM 1993 THROUGH 2004 AND LIBERTYS FROM 2002 TO 2007 *

ACTION COMES AFTER THE AUTOMAKER INITIALLY REFUSED A GOVT REQUEST TO RECALL THE VEHICLES OVER CONCERNS THE GAS TANK COULD RUPTURE IF HIT FROM THE REAR AND CAUSE A FIRE *

U.S. OFFICIALS SET TO BEGIN FORMAL TALKS WITH THE TALIBAN AT THE GROUP'S NEW OFFICE IN QATAR *

SR OBAMA ADMIN OFFICIALS SAY THE TALIBAN'S MOVE TO OPEN A POLITICAL OFFICE TUES IN DOHA IS A STEPPING STONE TO A FULL RENOUNCEMENT OF AL QAEDA *

TALKS ARE EXPECTED TO BEGIN IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS *

PRES OBAMA OPENS A 24-HOUR VISIT TO GERMANY ON TUES FOLLOWING TWO-DAY G8 SUMMIT IN NORTHERN IRELAND *

THE PRES IS EXPECTED TO MEET WITH GERMAN CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL AND OTHER GOVT OFFICIALS AHEAD OF A SPEECH TOMORROW AT BERLIN'S BRANDENBURG GATE *

CO FIRE CREWS WORKING TO FULLY CONTAIN THE MOST DESTRUCTIVE WILDFIRE IN STATE HISTORY *

THE BLACK FOREST FIRE HAS TORCHED 22 SQ MILES AND KILLED TWO PEOPLE SINCE IT ERUPTED A WEEK AGO *

FLAMES HAVE DESTROYED MORE THAN 500 HOMES *

IT REMAINS 85% CONTAINED *

IT'S UNCLEAR HOW THE WILDFIRE WAS SPARKED, BUT OFFICIALS BELIEVE IT WAS HUMAN-CAUSED *

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE SAYS A SWEEPING IMMIGRATION BILL WOULD CUT DEFICITS BY $197 BIL OVER 10 YEARS *

CBO SAYS THE BILL WOULD ADD $262 BIL IN NEW SPENDING AND TAX CREDITS OVER 10 YEARS WHILE INCREASING REVENUE BY $459 BIL *

THE MEASURE WOULD ALSO CUT DEFICITS BY $700 BIL IN THE FOLLOWING 10 YRS *

UNDER THE LEGISLATION, SOME 8 MIL ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WOULD GAIN LEGAL STATUS *

MILITARY JUDGE REFUSES TO DELAY THE FT HOOD SHOOTING SUSPECT'S MURDER TRIAL *

ACTION COMES AFTER MAJ. NIDAL HASAN ASKED FOR A THREE-MONTH DELAY IN THE CASE TO PREPARE FOR HIS STRATEGY TO DEFEND HIMSELF IN COURT OVER THE 2009 MASSACRE THAT LEFT 13 DEAD *

HASAN FACES THE DEATH PENALTY OR LIFE IN PRISON WITHOUT PAROLE IF CONVICTED *

LEADERS OF THE G8 PUSHING FOR A NEGOTIATED AND PEACEFUL END TO SYRIA'S DEADLY CIVIL WAR *

DURING A SUMMIT IN NORTHERN IRELAND ON TUES, LEADERS OUTLINED A DECLARATION THAT CALLED FOR THE EXPULSION OF AL QAEDA-LINKED FIGHTERS FROM THE COUNTRY AND A FURTHER $1.5 BIL IN AID FOR REFUGEES *

SYRIA'S TWO-YEAR CIVIL WAR HAS LEFT AN ESTIMATED 80,000 DEAD *

HOUSE APPROVES A BILL THAT WOULD BAN ABORTIONS AFTER 20 WEEKS *

THE MEASURE PASSED 228-196 TUES EVENING *

HOWEVER, THE WHITE HOUSE SAYS PRES OBAMA WOULD VETO IT IF IT REACHED HIS DESK *

GOOGLE ASKS THE FOREIGN INTEL SURVEILLANCE COURT TO LIFT A GAG ORDER ON HOW OFTEN THE COMPANY IS ASKED TO TURN OVER DATA TO THE GOVT *

THE TECH GIANT FILED THE MOTION ON TUES ASKING PERMISSION TO DISCLOSE THE NUMBER OF DATA REQUESTS MADE BY THE COURT, CLAIMING IT HAS A FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH *

GOOGLE IS AMONG NINE INTERNET COMPANIES ID'D EARLIER THIS MONTH AS COMPLICIT IN THE NSA'S PRISM INTERNET SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM *

NSA PROGRAMS ALLEGEDLY HELPED FOIL A BOMB PLOT TARGETING THE NY STOCK EXCHANGE *

THAT'S WHAT THE DEPUTY FBI DIR TOLD A HOUSE INTEL CMTE ON TUES *

THE NSA'S CHIEF SAYS THE SURVEILLANCE PROGRAMS HAVE HELPED PREVENT MORE THAN 50 POTENTIAL TERROR ATTACKS SINCE 9/11 *

WHISTLEBLOWER EDWARD SNOWDEN LEAKED INFO ON THE ONCE-SECRET PROGRAMS TO THE MEDIA TWO WKS AGO *

TOKYO-BOUND 787 DREAMLINER LANDS SAFELY IN SEATTLE AFTER THE CREW DECLARES AN EMERGENCY *

UNITED AIRLINES SAYS THE FLIGHT WAS DIVERTED BECAUSE OF AN OIL FILTER ISSUE *

THE FAA GROUNDED THE HIGH-TECH PLANES EARLIER THIS YR DUE TO A POTENTIAL RISK OF BATTERY FIRES *

Message to the LA TIMES: Thanks for the shout out…and more importantly, thank you for giving me the cue to talk about Larry King

Time sure flies, doesn’t it?  I was reading an LA Times story about the media and stumbled upon my name and reference to the time when I was at CNN.  It has been almost 11 years since I left CNN.   Sometimes it feels like yesterday and sometimes it feels like 50 years ago or that I was never there at all!  As an aside, many current and unhappy viewers with me have not forgotten that I started at CNN — I still daily get those emails “go back to CNN.”

My name appears in an article (excerpt below) with Larry King’s name.   It is about a 2000 political convention.  This gives me the chance to blog about Larry…

I still think Larry is the best.  I spent many nights in the make up chair next to him asking him questions about the business and he had great advice.  He was a very generous colleague.  He told me, among other things, “don’t talk too much….the audience will get sick of you after a while.  Let the guests talk.  The audience tunes in for the guest and the topic and not to listen to the host night after night.”   I think, with the rare exception of Bill O’Reilly who the viewers want to hear from directly, Larry is right.   

But there is more to cable news success than just letting the guest talk and Larry explained that.  I once heard a German news anchor on an internal feed at CNN ask Larry why he was so successful, why his show had lasted so long (and then it was on the air only about 15 years!) He said, “I am curious…I am interested in my guests and what they have to say.” 

I have thought about that for years and he is right – if the anchor is more interested in himself or herself and not the guest and the topic of discussion, why would the audience stick around? The anchor can’t sell a news item or guest to the audience if the anchor is more interested in himself or herself.  And what might be worse than a self absorbed anchor?   A bored one…why would anyone watch a show where the questions are so unoriginal as to expose the anchor’s boredom.

What has been mysterious to me is why Larry got pushed out of CNN.  When he left, he was still the #1 show at CNN.  He was #1  despite the fact that it was obvious that the network was ignoring him and his show and had been for some time.    Why would a network bump its #1 show? This is not meant to be a slap at his replacement (I have said for years that the best job in TV was replacing the person who replaced Larry) — it is just very difficult if not impossible to follow someone of such enormous talent as Larry King.  By the way, I assume everyone will say Larry was not pushed out but it sure seemed that way to me as an outside observer.  That is my opinion.

I know some of the Fox viewers have a knee jerk reaction to Larry because he worked at a network they don’t like.  But think about it…I don’t ever recall thinking Larry gave an unfair interview and I watched a lot of Larry King interviews.   I don’t even know how Larry votes.  Larry gave Republicans and Democrats the same interview…in others, a fair shake. 

Here is the excerpt:


“… Turner’s network occupied premium skybox space at Staples Center, with then stars such as King and Greta van Susteren prowling the halls and chatting up political luminaries. The upstart Fox News was relegated to trailers and tents in a cramped parking lot, where a tall, ambitious and opinionated program host sat slumped, writing his own copy. That was Bill O’Reilly…

 

 









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