Comically Numbing Network. Constantly Neutral Narcissists. Certified News Nincompoops.
CNN can mean a lot of things. Mostly, it’s the Cable News Network. But it’s also been big trouble for ratings lately, and that has people in the media industry talking.
By “talking,” of course, I actually mean “talking trash.” (Journalists don’t have much to do these days, and throwing darts at a picture of Wolf Blitzer’s face keeps the restless muckrakers busy.) Following, a sampling of some (deserved) criticisms being lobbed in the direction of CNN’s Magic Wall.
From The New York Times:
People at CNN see themselves as victims of a polarized political culture — and to some extent, they are. But high-minded self-pity only gets you so far.
From New York Magazine:
…CNN’s biggest problem may actually be its founding principles. In an era when news flows like water—available everywhere, all the time, instantly—a network devoted to providing headlines topped with a touch of analysis no longer seems quite so useful.
And from the Chicago Tribune:
You know what you don’t hear very often? The phrase, “So last night I was watching CNN and …”
So, the question CNN is surely asking: What to do?
Perhaps surprisingly, especially in an age when not one news outlet can turn a profit, it seems everyone has a prescription to offer CNN.
A number of media hounds suggest CNN should put a modern iteration of its former program Crossfire back on the air. Some say the network should suck it up and take a side, rather than remain “balanced” to the point of ridiculousness. Some have even drafted an entire primetime lineup for the network.
Personally, I think these recommendations miss the mark. In my (very humble) opinion, CNN would be accepting failure if it were to reject its identity as the last bastion of semi-real news on cable. Why become an opinion piece when you can be the front page? And, perhaps even more important, why air only debate and opinion when variety is such a palatable alternative?
My ideal solution is a combination of three recommendations: One from Vanity Fair, another from the Chicago Tribune column mentioned earlier and one of my own.
The Chicago Tribune piece brilliantly suggests CNN should merge with CBS or ABC, the remaining networks without a cable news presence; that way, CNN would have more resources at its disposal and experience a better chance of ratings success. And why stop there? Actively partner with a newspaper, too, like Fox Business News and the Wall Street Journal (beginning in 2012) or MSNBC and The New York Times.
Then, there’s the Vanity Fair piece (worth reading in whole, I might add):
Turn CNN into an intelligent new blend. One part CBS News’s brilliant Sunday Morning. One part Rome Hartman’s smart BBC World News America. And one part good old-fashioned Jim Lehrer. Let the market news scroll along the bottom. Let the weather be part of the newsbreak and Twitter and Facebook. Forbid patently mediocre anchors from trying to develop some sort of personal “voice” with viewers. Just because it’s live television news doesn’t mean it’s watchable television news. I’ll take good tape and deep thoughts over inane banter any day of the week—wouldn’t you?
Finally, CNN’s primetime programming shouldn’t focus only on politics. Leave the nonstop punditry and talking points to the other cable news networks and innovate with an investigative, world news, or business program. And that’s not even mentioning a Kristof-esque opinion show, an interview-centric program, or documentaries. When one begins to think outside of the cable news box, the possibilities are, quite truly, endless.
In closing: There was a time when broadcast news meant something. With its current adversity, CNN has been presented a unique opportunity to reinvent itself and reclaim its rightful place at the pinnacle of journalism, while still providing the entertainment value viewers have come to expect of the cable news networks.
Anderson Cooper’s sultry stare alone cannot save CNN. CNN needs to step up and save itself.
What’s your take on CNN’s identity crisis? Share your comments below.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
I admit I don’t watch CNN much, but I watch it more than MSNBC or Fox News (both of which have a supercritical mass of left and right wing nut jobs). Frankly, Wolf Blitzer is probably the best guy they have. I say do some Meet the Press-type work, some investigative piece, or take a page out of Newsy’s book and show what other networks around the world are saying. That would be very interesting.
Here’s one: Change CNN to the Chuck Norris Network, bringing America on-the-spot butt-kicking in real time! I would so watch that channel!