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Saturday, May 5, 2012

More Doom & Gloom for CNN


The heat is on for CNN, criticism coming from every corner of the blogosphere after news of April's epic ratings fail. Maybe a total shakeup, starting at the top, will happen and finally fix what once was the industry standard for cable news? We can only hope.


This first 'what's wrong with CNN' article was written by Lewis Lazare and posted at Reel Chicago. Here's his opening few paragraphs. Please read the entire article as he makes some valid points about Piers, Wolf and Cooper.

The news was hardly shocking. To us anyway. Late yesterday, it was revealed — once again — that top executives at cable news channel CNN are wringing their hands in desperation because ratings continue to plummet.

Based on the April national Nieslen ratings report, CNN has sunk to third place among national news channels — behind perennial frontrunner Fox News and second-place finisher, MSNBC.

In fact, April brought CNN’s worst ratings in a decade.

CNN parent Time Warner, according to the New York Times, is said to be demanding something be done immediately about this slide.

Apparently these same Time Warner folk are oblivious to the fact CNN brass, such as they are, have been fiddling to no avail with the news channel’s prime time lineup for the past couple of years.

If anything, the programming has gotten worse.

We can speak with authority on this matter because — we must admit — we love to observe a train wreck in progress. Almost every weekday night, we watch with utter amazement at how bad the CNN product is.

Viewers SHOULD be abandoning the news channel. No one deserves to have such TV torture inflicted on them.

So what’s wrong with CNN?
Full article.

The stunner for today is HuffPo's analysis of CNN's woes. Here's their opening few paragraphs:

CNN is terrible. A God-awful, wall-to-wall, epic mess. And now, they have, in their hands, the clearest sign yet of how bad things have actually gotten. This past April, CNN posted its lowest ratings in 10 years. The New York Times' Brian Stelter recently noted the slim upside, writing, "people tune in to CNN, the same way they hurry to a hospital when they think they are having a heart attack." But what news channel does CNN have to tune in to, to learn the gory details of its own longrunning, sad disaster? Good news: we are that news channel.

CNN, of course, has a proud legacy to fall back on, as it is the entity that kicked off the tradition of 24 hour cable news channels in the first place, and its coverage of the first Gulf War demonstrated that it had minted real newsgathering mettle. CNN founder Ted Turner, in a meta-theatrical appearance on Piers Morgan's show last night, noted that he "wanted CNN to be the New York Times for the news business." Instead, the network has fallen lower in esteem than the New York Mets, who people actually still watch, on the teevee.

Cue the handwringing! How did this happen, and what's to be done next? Well, if you listen to the people who run CNN, you will learn that they think April's ratings low "isn't much of a problem," and what needs to happen now is that management needs "to come up with a plan to restore momentum."

Shut up, people who run CNN! We have been watching CNN for a long time, because there is a television set in our midst that is constantly tuned to it, out of pity. And we've been noticing for a long time that all of the various innovations and "momentum-builders," combined with the very strange decisions made when it comes to coverage, invariably conspire and combine to make CNN steadily worse.
Full article

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35 comments:

Anonymous said...

This blog is awesome, Everything being mentioned
in these articles have been talked about here. We
have been going on and on about CNN messing up
360, The torture it is to watch CNN. Maybe Richard
Stengel from Tine can temporarily take over until
CNN gets a brand new management team. I feel
bad for Wolf Blitzer. CNN puts their anchors and
reporters in no win situations. You don't need 2
hour shows in the daytime or make them play
games with pundits. I didn't know wether to laugh
or cry reading Huffington Post.

Anonymous said...

I wonder if the NY Times knows something we
don't. The article features the pictures of Soledad
O' Brien , Erin Burnett and Piers Morgan. Will they
be the first shows to be canceled in a remake. The
news gathering machine that Ted Turner built has
been dismantled. How do you get it back ?

Ironically, the critics want CNN to succeed. They
seem to want a reason to start watching CNN .

Anonymous said...

Hopefully this is the beginning of a new beginning of brainstorming for CNN.

Anonymous said...

"We have been going on and on about CNN messing up 360."
OK. NO. Many of us have been going on and on about how 360 MESSED ITSELF UP.
Don't blame CNN for 360's problems.
Let's try placing the blame for once smack dab where it belongs ON THE ANCHOR!!!
This entire year he's been totally unprepared because of his talkfest and he phones it in every nite because his main objective is to get through the program and do his day gig.
OK??? So that's why most of his fan
club deserted HIM.
It had zero to do with CNN management and everything to do with ANDERSON.
I used to watch his every word and now I can't stomach anything on CNN, inlcluding HIM.
The only thing I can say about management and Cooper is....they used him OVER AND OVER AND OVER, so much that everyone got so tired of watching him you'd like to vomit.
And then they cut the ONLY ANCHOR WORTH HIS WEIGHT, WOLF Blitzer, AND GAVE HIM TWO HOURS!!!!
For WHO???? Little Ms Cream Puff Erin Burnett...same kind of treatment as Cooper.
Another Wonderkind that would save the day and got rid of someone who at least knew the News!!
Tim Russert suggested Campbell Brown, but NO....Cooper would save the day!
FINALLY, FINALLY the media is taking note and I can't wait until Jon Stewart tears everyone there to shreds and I mean EVERYONE!

Anonymous said...

I feel badly for all of the fine journalists at CNN.
Management pushed them aside in favor of the
talking heads. The 600 million dollars is likely
what is keep Jim Walton at CNN. Time Warner
has so many components. Top brass just sees
the dollar signs and don't have a lot of time to
spend hours watching CNN.

Anonymous said...

Ed Shultz, bless his heart, appeared on Bill Maher's program on HBO yesterday.
And he was a thrill to hear and listen to and the audience loved him.
Why did he appear?? To promote his show, not that it needs promoting, but he appeared anyway. He wins his time slot over Cooper ALL the time.
Just like he did when Labor needed him in Wisconsin.
And Rachel Maddow has appeared on Bill's show a few times.
Not that she needs to either but she did it to promote her show on
MSNBC.
So why doesn't Anderson appear to promote 360?
Because he has been spoiled wrotten. He thinks he doesn't have to. He doesn't have to do what the other anchors do, like showing up at the Correspondence Dinners.
Yes, ALL the Fox News anchors were there because it called PROMOTION.
But some personalities got away with it all along and turned up at Vanity Fair parties so now, nobody wants to watch them.
Who's fault is that?????
You go because the POTUS is there and that should have been an ORDER from CNN MANAGEMENT day one for EVERYBODY. NO EXCEPTIONS.
SO NOW YOU PAY THE PRICE.

Anonymous said...

Time Warner needs to take control of this now out of control situation. Jim Walton approved all of the following:

Headline News was dismantled and turned into HLN, the entertainment channel.
Rick Sanchez was given a two hours to run amuck
The Kiran Chetry hire
Removal of all CNN International programs
Firing of Aaron Brown
Firing of Campbell Brown
Giving Brooke Baldwin her own show
Hiring of Piers Morgan
Hiring of Eliot Spitzer
Hiring of Erin Burnett
Any and all News Rooms
Pundits on every single show
Silly segments like Choose the News, Music Mondays, Keeping the Honest, Out Front Five and on and on.
I can list numerous others but I'm getting tired and depressed.

How can CNN improve if the man that approved all of these disastrous decisions remain in control?

Anonymous said...

Okay, that first article was terrible. I honestly think that Wolf Blitzer is the true star of CNN. Many people love him. The person who wrote that article seriously seems conceded. And how on earth does this person think that David Gergen and Gloria Borger are bad? They are the true greatest Republican and Democrat correspondents. Get rid of the pundits, but I've always felt that Gloria and David are the two best, along with James Carville, his wife Mary Mateline, and I like Donna Brazile.

Anonymous said...

I think Anderson is absolutely right to not attend those correspondents dinners, there's something strange about reporters schmoozing it up with the very people they are supposed to keep tabs on, it's not right.

Definitely CNN should get rid of Borger, Gergen, both of whom have completely lost objectivity and credibility, and as far as I'm concerned ALL of its pundits, they offer nothing of substance, just report FACTS without them. Keep Anderson, re-tool 360, but get rid of Wolf, King, Burnett, Piers.

Anonymous said...

I agree with the first comment on this thread - all the stuff talked about in these doom and gloom articles have, for the most part, been suggested on this site, way before now. It is sad but maybe this is CNN's come-to-jesus moment. After all these articles from critics are coming out saying, "Seriously, CNN execs, you suck bad and we all know it and can see it and we TRIED telling you but you are not listening'" maybe heads are going to roll. I was miffed at the whole Parker-Spitzer debacle because the show had bad chemistry between two people who on there are own are good at what they do and it was insulting how they handled Parker's exit. She really is a good comlumnist and I would probably be shell-shocked if I had to spend that much time up close with the whirlwind that is Eliot Spitzer. I like the guy - but he is intense. But the FINAL straw for me was hiring that flake Burnett. OMG, she epitomizes everything that is wrong with CNN - more style, less substance - sensational drama over serious debate - vapid instead of earnest. I can't believe I ever liked her on Morning Joe but you would think CNN would have talked to her and interviewed her to see her values and journalistic style are not a good fit with the CNN brand. But, I guess this is the new brand - dumb and shallow. Like a previous commenter posted, I feel sorry for the serious CNN journalists who really are the best in the business but are not given a shot. You know the brand is eroding when the knives are out for Wolf and Anderson as well.

Anonymous said...

Wow . For months we have been posting and
writing on the nightmare scenario for CNN. It
happened April 2012. Believe it or not CNN
could possibly have a worst May. Rather than
posting ratings this time around we will post
a thesis on some possible solutions for CNN
based on Jay Rosen's 5 ways to save CNN. It's
no secret management failed CNN. Jay Rosen
& Huffington Post were spot on. Jon Stewart
was on this years ago. It is true CNN is terrible,
awful, wall to wall epic mess.

Jay Rosen mentioned these 5 ways on Esquire
and we could not agree more. Please take time
to read his article.

1] Drop the chronic impartiality

2] Take a cure from the Daily Show

3] Don't give the audience what you think they
want, try new things.

4} Social media is more than a gimmick

5} A news channel should break news

If there is any article that Time Warner
management should read it is the Jay
Rosen article on Esquire.

Full warning : the thesis is long and will
require multiple posts. We decided to call
this CNN Relaunch August 2012.

Anonymous said...

I have but one thing to say about Candy Crowley "State of the Nature". She is "always" break in when the other person is speaking. This is always happening. It is Sooooo rude and unprofessional.

Anonymous said...

CNN RELAUNCH AUGUST 2012
------------------------------------------

Go out hire some 100 all platform journos from
around the world. Some CNN affiliates already
have reporters who write,shoot and edit their
own stories. There are going to be recent grads
in broadcast journalism with skills in all types
of media platforms. Start searching. We will give
more details later. It is all about a news revolution
for the 21st Century courtesy CNN.

Hire the likes of Kaj Larsen and Amber Lyon.
We don't know if they are still at CNN but
CNN needs them. Current TV has one of the
best critically acclaimed documentary series
in news. It is called Vanguard. Hire Marianna
Van Zeller, Adam Yamaguci & Christof Putzel.
Kaj Larsen was originally a part of the team.
This will help enhance the news gathering
and original content .

Also, bring in Max Lugavere & Jason Silva.
These 2 were involved in helping to launch
the original Current TV. They know how to
create conent which is a major headache for
CNN. Start hiring people who can do this.

Conor Knighton , who is currently with CBS,
was the first person to appear on Current TV.
He also used to do a segment that was Yahoo
& Google Current. He would tie the searches
to news. That lead to a show called Infomania.
It was dubbed the kid brother of The Daily
Show. Stay with us this will all come together.

Current originally was very good at making
old media, aka TV, and new media, the web
and social media. The website matched what
you saw on television. We think David Neuman
was in charge of Current. CNN will need these
people to restore the news apparatus that was
demolished .

swmpratt said...

CNN used to be the first network I would go to for news, but no more. I watch NBC for the news now and I get more real news there in 22 minutes than I ever got on 360 in a little less than an hour. 360 seems to be a celebration of Cooper half the time - I am tired of hearing him bite back at people who criticize him, I'm tired of hearing about how he works 3 jobs (although counting 60 minutes is cheating - he is hardly ever on there. Lara Langley is though and she is good - and from NBC!

I'm not sure what all CNN should do to get better - maybe flush what they have and start over. Make Cooper choose between being a reporter and being a talk show host (even with his problems on the show he is still a better reporter than a talk show host). Cancel Piers Morgan; let Soledad return to doing hour long specials that she is so good at - she has had in the past few years the only quality programming on CNN. Bring back international news - things do happen in other places in the world. Cut Wolf to 1 hour a day and don't make him the czar of the political coverage - John King does it better. And finally, try to get Ted Turner to come back and restore CNN to its former glory because right now its circling the drain.

Suzanne

Anonymous said...

Start talking to people at the CBC.

George Stroumboulopoulos practically does a live
news show. This is as close as CNN can get to The
Daily Show. Put him on up against Rachel Maddow.
Their personalities are so much alike Strombo has
been at this for 8 years. In Canada, some portions
of the US and worldwide. He is good at TV.

Recently he brought Kevin Neuman on his show.
He was on to talk about finding real news on
Twitter & Facebook. Kevin Neuman and his team
do this at CBC. CNN"s misuse of social media &
technology has got to stop now. No more
questions or reading responses on the air. CNN
has to stop making themselves look ridiculous.

CBC is going through some budget cutting.
One casualty was a really good show called
Connect With Mark Kelley. Bring Connect
With Mark Kelly to CNN. He has had some of
the journalists from CNN, NBC, ABC & CBS on
his program.

Both Stroumboulopoulos and Connect could
help CNN right a way. CNN has a couple of
months to make deals.

In doing so you don't have to worry about
getting crappy shows. Strombo & Kelley have
strong credentials.

Try new things at CNN. it would be tough
for CNN critics to knock CNN for hiring any
of these people from CBC. They could see
visual evidence of their shows and won't have
people saying , what is wrong with CNN ?

Anonymous said...

CNN has got to start being unpredictable and bold.

Go with the news show with the ladies. It would be
wonderful to see a group of ethnically diverse smart
female journalists on CNN, and yes, love the Que
Sera Sera open. That would get people to watch
CNN. If you don't know what you are going to see,
you keep watching. Social Media turns people on
to a lot of TV. HBO used this effectively for Game
of Thrones. Guess what ? It is the top rated cable
show on Sunday night. CNN needs to become the
HBO of cable news. HBO was the first movie
channel to realize they could not just get by
showing movies. The network understands the
importance of great shows. HBO GO is one of
the best apps out there. Ironically, TW owns
both HBO & CNN. Wait, there is more. Mr TW,
Jeff Bewkes was the one behind this at HBO. The
man knows go TV when he sees it. If Bewkes
takes a good long look at CNN, the man would
likely say this stinks. CNN gets overlooked because
it is not losing money for TW. Also, TW has some
big movies coming out for the Summer. Dark
Shadows comes out this Friday.

Women are different so it is good to say no politics.
Aisha Tyler is getting much positive buzz these
days for her work on The Talk.

She's on Talk, was once had a show on Comedy
Central and has a webcast. Would be a good
choice for a brand new 11 PM show. Just have
her give us her take on the news.

Anonymous said...

Here's where we are so far :

Hire 100 all platform journalists. CNN gets content
for TV, Internet, Mobile Devices, Social Media all
at the same time. The choice is yours as to how
you chose to experience the news. We can only
hope Kaj Larsen and Amber Lyon are still with
CNN. We are not so sure. I Reporters can't do this
CNN. Right now start collecting material. Vimeo
has some really good material. Try reaching out
to some of the people who upload content to
Vimeo. Word is Bloomberg is out to make a
deal with Vice. CNN make a deal with Vimeo
reach out to those who upload content.

Start storing these stories and films on to a
server that provides CNN with massive content
for the August 2012 Launch.

Hire those Vanguard journos from Current TV :

Marianna Van Zeller, Adam Yamaguci, Christof
Putzel.

Go for talent that have left Current and are
freelancing but can create content on multiple
platforms for CNN. Max Lugavere, Jason Silva,
Conor Knighton. They can create TV.

We can't imagine David Muir leaving ABC for
CNN. If you can get him on CNN at 6 PM boy
that would be amazing. Connect with Mark
Kelley could work just as well at 6 PM. If by
some stroke of luck CNN gets both of them.
CNN can put Mark Kelley on at 5 PM

7 PM the Ladies News Hour On CNN. Out Front
can't stay on at this hour. Too much damage is
being done. Betty, Isha, Ashleigh are familiar
faces. It is not a stretch to see them anchoring
breaking news on CNN. Out Front is a major
league disaster for CNN. You can't delay ,the
time to act is now.

The Huffington Post is right about 360. Give us
back the original Anderson Cooper 360. KTH has
got to go. Anderson Cooper is too good of a
writer/story-teller to have such a bad opening
for 360. No Pundits go back to solo interviews.
Isha Sesay can still do the the 360 Bulletin. Fix
the content bring back the music and The Nth
Degree. CNN should re-edit and provide a much
different 10 PM edition. Re- edict the 360 Remix
with different music and some different content.

George Stroumboulopoulos on CNN at 9 PM.
Piers Morgan is no competition for TRMS. End
those cheesy promos. Those promos make us
not want to watch CNN. Where are the news
promos ?

Aisha Tyler gives us her take on the news
each night at 11 PM.


Next we will have some new ideas for CNN
from 12 midnight to 5 or 6 PM.

Anonymous said...

We mentioned an August 2012 relaunch for CNN.
CNN picks the day on which the News Revolution
is televised live on CNN. You get a new logo. The
crawl is history and no more big hair banners.That
is all in the past. CNN brings you the news in Real
Time. Whenever news happens You will see it on
the screen. You will now hear music all day long
on CNN. This is the world we live in now. This
is what people do while reading news in papers
or on the internet. It does not hurt the news, look
at Morning joe. People are always trying to figure
out why a song is used for a particular segment.

At CNN you will get the most eclectic mix of all
music genres. The catch, you have to go to the
CNN website to track down the name of a song
you are interested in finding. From now on you
will be able to go to CNN's website by simply
knowing the time you heard the song on CNN
Everything is in real time. The TV and website
link up. The same goes for all stories. Interview
and guests appearing on CNN you will see the
time on your TV and internet.No more dancing
backgrounds, all video is full screen as are maps.
On every piece of video you now get a media bar.
Time elapsed to the left time remaining to the
right. CNN has got to look like the modern world.

From now on All graphics are full screen. No
more banners on maps or info graphics. You
are defeating the purpose. All bumps now
contain news. It can be sports scores. Top
Google searches. Most popular on CNN. What
is trending news related on Facebook/Twitter
There is a website that does give you the most
popular news on social media.


CNN you will no longer tell us how we think
or feel about anything.. One of the most
overused phrases on CNN the American people

There will no longer be any ridiculous gimmicks
or stunts. This has completely destroyed CNN's
political coverage. We have some thoughts on
hire CNN might be able to restore the political
reporters. No more pundits. They have hijacked
you political coverage. ti is petty, pointless. it is
turning off viewers just look at your political show
ratings. No real substance or analysis. Thanks
for ruining the careers of real political reporters
at CNN. You should have never elevated the
pundits to such a high status. CNN you viewers
are likely more informed about news than your
competitors. Regular CNN viewers know when
they hear lies, misinformation and BS.

Leading up to the launch, keep preparing,
making brand new graphics that cover various
topic in every category possible.

CNN should also have people dig for the news.
Skip the ideological blogs CNN. We are talking
about real interesting items that people will
want to learn about. Newseum has the front
pages of newspapers from all around the
world. Find that video that no one else has
on You Tube, Vimeo and others. Real Time
fresh content. Your reporters can tease their
stories via twitter/FB. CNN you don't read
them you put it on the screen.No more dancing
backgrounds. Even better if you have video of
reporters heading to their assignments. News
Trailers CNN. On TV and the internet.. Mobile
devices and social media all at the same time.

Start collecting still photos of your talent doing
their jobs. Stop using promotional photos
for phoners. Get multiple still photos of all of
the anchors and reporters while they are working
to be used. they can also be used with any
tweets or texts from reporters. Full split screen
side by side.

Design a new hip digital clock that goes under
the CNN logo. The logo now dissolves with the
show title, and CNN dot COM.. You will now
see the CNN logo, show title and CNN dot com.

Stop have your talent say follow me on this ,
this and this. Just put it on the screen We know
the FB, Twitter & Google Plus logos. CNN we
are stupid.

Anonymous said...

Now it all comes together on August whatever
2012.

You will hear those legendary words : this is CNN.
Underneath you will hear The Revolution Will Not
Be Televised. Use that clip when Ted Turned made
the announcement of the launch of CNN. Have
the word Then on the screen. Fast Forward throw
all of the years to the present. Now is on the day
of the launch on the calender. REAL TIME NEWS,
ORIGINAL REPORTING, IN DEPTH REPORTS, MORE
CONTENT THAN YOU CAN HANDLE.

There is a reason we said to hire Kevin Neuman,
Conor Knighton, Max Lugavere , Jason Silva
and David Neuman. They are doing this and have
pulled this off before for CURRENT. The problem
was they relied on viewer content. CNN is not
going to make that mistake . CNN will produce
massive amounts of content for multiple platforms
all a once. You chose how you experience the
news. Will it be television, internet or mobile
devices for CNN paid subscribers. Not everyone
has cable/satellite so you get a free audio feed
of CNN on CNN dot COM or via mobile apps.
Also make the audio available for free form
CNN International. this is how you make news
go viral. You have to bring it to the masses.
Mark Zuckerberg understood this about FB. If
you build , they will come. That is why The
Revolution Will Not be Televised . HBO does a
beautiful job with editing for their promos,
why not CNN ?

Transition to a news song . Remember we
said Midnight. You are now listening to Sometime
Around Midnight by Toxic Airborne Event. From
now on from Midnight to 5AM you will get Still
Up With Max & Jason. They will take you through
the top stories from CNN, CNN I. CNN dot COM
and just all around interesting stuff/ They can
ever go back through the CNN library.

Next up Conor Knighton with a brand new
5 AM show. We told you about the how he
did Google Current for Current TV tying the
searches to news. For Infomania, he read so
many magazines so he could bring us very
interesting items from various publications.
Would be a good matchup against Willie on
MSNBC.

CNN has got to give Soledad a good shot and
stop dragging her down with pundits. CNN
you will know longer be pairing real journalists
with pundits or bloggers playing reporters on
TV. CNN you are suppose to be factually based.
You will no longer hear the words Early Start
or Starting. From now on Soledad gets a serious
panel filed with CNN journalists or other TW
properties. You go smart against Morning joe
not dumb. No news reader needed. Remember
CNN is now in real time. You will visibly Soledad
and her colleagues actively searching for news
to bring to viewers Book interesting guests,
Have fun segments too. No more breakfast with
pundits. You will see CNN's passion for the news.
New time 6- 8 AM.

CNN Domestic will now be showing News Stream
with Kristie Lou Stout from 8 - 9 AM. CNN is
dropping the ball on international news. There
is some amazing things happening in China.
MSNBC doe not pride itself on international news.
Only Rachel Maddow & Chris Hayes have been
talking about this. Where is CNN ? Europe could
end up with a Depression due to austerity, zero
on CNN. Morning Joe regularly has people from
the BBC talking on world news. Where is CNN ?

We are truly a global society Americans have
got to start being informed about what is going
on in the global society we now live in . You
can't put the global society back in the bottle.
Knock it off with the xenophobia, fear and down
right ignorance. You are freakn' CNN. Act like
it. You do solid research and reporting. Knock
it off with fact checking Meet The Press. Get
you own house in order.

Anonymous said...

I really hope CNN is completely revamped once the Republican and Democratic conventions have come to a close. Those two months (September 7th to November 6th) will be very crucial times in the news world and CNN has that chance to attract more viewers. Unfortunately, we live in a world now that has opinionated news channels like FOX or MSNBC. CNN has tried taking that route by inviting opinionated pundits to argue one side each of a topic while having their anchors just state facts. What they need to do is to go back to their original format of just straight news, leaving the viewers to make up their mind, rather than having pundits, which in my opinion is very dangerous because people are easily influenced by what they hear.

Anonymous said...

I'm curious to know the opinions of the creators of this blog. What should CNN do to change? What comments do you agree with? I'd really like to know.

Anonymous said...

Some immediate changes would include re-assigning and releasing some employees.
Re-assign Fredricka Whitfield, Brooke Baldwin and Don Lemon to HLN. These three love interviewing celebrities or are too caught up in their own celebrity.

Suzanne Malveaux and Zoraida Sambolin need to be re-assigned to the correspondent pool.

John King and Soledad Obrien who are both very intelligent should concentrate on special coverage and various documentaries. Everything that is interesting and good about these two gets lost as soon as they take a seat in that anchor chair.

Erin Burnett needs to become a business correspondent and while doing her reporting, hopefully she will gain knowledge of business outside of the Wall Street world.

Piers Morgan on occasion receives decent ratings but not on a regular basis. CNN Management has allow Piers to become one of the main faces of CNN, which has definitely hurt their reputation. Piers needs to be released from his contract.

The CNN US news directors, producers and editors need to be retrained on what is news.

News executives Mark Whitaker, Ken Jautz and Jim Walton all need to go too.
Viewers are not going to be satisfied with a little re-tooling here and adding this or that; complete changes are needed before viewers will return to CNN.

Anonymous said...

Have to agree with LifeBites, Suzanne.
You made the same points I expressed, but better and I too would rather watch broadcast news than cable.
There was a time when cable was better but right now, give me Brian Williams and Jon Stewart.
And as far as the Correspondence Dinner....everyone should be obligated to attend out of respect and courtesy for the Administration.
No, Cooper would rather schmooze with Barry Diller....a real heavy weight! Why "kiss up" to other media types when you can out do them?

Anonymous said...

It would be fun to show the morning comics in
the papers . Yahoo has all of the morning comics.
Why not use them in the morning on CNN.

9 AM the Revolution is live right before our
eyes. We won't know what/when/where news will
happen but CNN will get you hip to what is going
all over the world. No matter the category we
will hear about it on CNN. TV, WEB MOBILE, Social
Media the choice is yours. There is Kyra, Suzanne
& Brooke as the guides. It would be a live news
drama. it is live with multiple cameras. CNN does
have to start breaking news. CNN stop being so
lazy, news will not come to you. DIg, find it. Let us
hear the news room chatter from the control room.

No more pundit games. CNN you look stupid.
Stop making yourselves look bad. That is why
there is so little sympathy for CNN or TW. The
people in charge failed to take action, to come
up with a plan. How could you not have a back
up plan in case PMT, Out Front & Starting Point
did not work. CNN drop the pundits from your
network . They are too partisan to offer any
constructive political analysis or anything of
value that viewers can walk away with. Have
your political team do political stories in the
likeness of the original Raw Politics . Give them
a chance at redemption. Let them flex those
journalism muscles. CNN give them a chance
to revive their careers that you ruined with
bad decisions. The CNN anchors, reporters
and staff are victims. They did not make the
decisions on bad hires like Piers Morgan, Erin
Burnett or the pundit TV. Give them the
opportunity to save CNN. They could use some
leadership. Stop standing on their necks. Let
them talk about their work on CNN Reports
What is wrong letting the reporters with us
hearing form the reporters and what lead them
to these stories. Give them the chance to look
in the camera and connect with viewers.

At 11 Am Robin Mead comes to CNN with an
live hour of News In The Fast Lane. it is fast
paced . This is the time when the pace of the
news needs to pick up on CNN.

At 12 NOON go with an hour of international news.

At 1 PM try to hire Alison Sewart or Nicole Lapin
for a news show based solely on news from and
related to the internet News not opinion.

At 2 PM someone mentioned a show called
Download in which you will see the stories
being loaded and see now playing and the
video an stories would go through the process
As we said before on every piece of video you
will see on CNN there is a media bar. Bye Bye
banner and crawl.

Now 2 hours are the same CNN is constantly
upgrading content and adding fresh news
and reports. No more repeating and reading
the same scripts over and over again.

It is not like CNN is hurting for resources.
Hello, TW owns so many properties. Print
& internet. Time has video, tons of in depth
reports & video, photos, News Feed.

At 3 PM go with a new show News Feed
just by using just by using the resources
of Time Magazine on a daily basis.

Same thing goes for SI. COM. They have
a live scoreboard. CNN should be able
to show this on the network. Same goes
for Fortune Magazine.

Reporters from all of these TW properties
should play a major role in enhancing CNN
content.

Remember Real Time is in effect all 24 hrs on CNN
Follow the real news that is going on and not the
noise for fake made up topics.

To help pull this off. See if you can hire some
additional people from Breaking News. Start
hiring people who know what to do.

CNN you owe it to your viewers to make this
right. For years we have waited patiently for
CNN to get it's act together. Only to see a
24 hr news train wreck.

Not 1 hour of CNN is watchable. Viewers are
tired of suffering and turning away causing
your ratings to tank.

Apologize to viewers. Work hard to get us
back and show us some respect.

Coming up next, We will post a closing
section on TSR.

Anonymous said...

Thank CNN management for boring down TSR.
It is suppose to be old/new media. How does
Jack Cafferty and Lisa Sylvester work for
TSR. CNN puts Wolf Blitzer in situations
that forces him to play dumb. How about
bringing in some energetic people to keep
him from sounding boring. In 2012, CNN
is asking questions and reading responses
on live television. No more Cafferty File.

CNN's entire approach to political coverage
must change. Hire Brett Erlich for political
satire. He is good and can even write songs
on politics. Embrace the Daily Show.

Start airing Mark Fiore cartoons. They are
totally awesome.

The show should be on for just 1 hour.
You don't need 2 hour shows later in the
day on CNN.

The CNN's political coverage has given CNN
a very negative image and the tone of CNN
is angry. Who wants to watch misery ? 20
people for political coverage. Really ? CNN
this is an absolute circus.

The dice were loaded from the start for
John King, USA. CNN stop giving pundits
shows on CNN. Management saw the ratings
and repeated the same mistake again with
Starting Point. Stop the insanity. Einstein
schooled us on that. You can't keep doing
the same things over and over again expecting
a different result.

Stop making excuses and try new things. Don't
assume something won't work. Stop being afraid
of conservatives. The goal is to save CNN.
We don't know if CNN cares what we think
but we knew this was coming just by tracking
the data. We told you it was a doctorate on a
brand new news model for CNN.

It is all true, CNN is terrible, awful and a wall
to wall epic mess.

Jon Stewart has been waring CNN for years.
CNN Management could not see their network
was becoming a national joke. Now the pile
on and the negative press will linger and not
make things any easier for CNN. None of this
had to happen.

Stay Tuned

Anonymous said...

Has anyone noticed one single change at CNN ?

You kids are on to something about that Strombo
guy. He had the Harvard, MIT free education story
last week. I show the clip on the website. Just the
morning he has this interesting picture/story of a
a portion of a church that has been embedded in
a tree for years. It has to be seen to be believed.
It is in France. The photos are so visually stunning.

CNN is the one who is way behind just like the
people with no 4G phone in the commercials.
CNN has gotten too comfortable an lazy. All I can
say is that this Strombo guy and his staff are
amazing. The blog is amazing. CNN should be
digging and searching for news not what some
moron has to say.

I hope they do see what is being said on this blog.
We all really watch CNN.It is so true that the
networks get more news in 22 minutes than
you can get all day long on CNN.

Anonymous said...

How much evidence does CNN management need
that the pundits are destroying CNN.. All of the
articles talk about the political coverage, the lying
pundits who talent is too dumb to catch.. CNN had
better wake up. ABC is getting in the game. They
talk all day long on polls being taken in MAY. AND.
CNN is bad by choice. Also, CBS is making it known
they want Anderson Cooper & Sanjay Gupta. They
are crediting them for bringing younger viewers
to 60 minutes. Younger viewers don't like pundits
and that is all CNN hires and puts on all of their
shows. That is why the network is a wall to wall
epic mess. MSNBC is outperforming CNN on
international news. Joe Scarborough has on
people from Monocle, BBC and people who
know international affairs. CNN we've got pundits.
Rachel Maddow & Chirs Hayes do a lot of global
news that CNN completely ignores.

CNN told us we would be in a double dip.
Wrong continent. CNN 's China coverage is
clueless about what is happening . CNN has
not even bothered to cover the austerity
backlash. CNN repeats the Socialists in
Europe like it is true. MJ pointed out it is not
true. Anyone with access to Google knows
watching CNN will make you stupid.

Anonymous said...

It is simple : The pundits must GO !

CNN management must GO !

These guys ruined the CNN brand. There is no
way in the world they can fix CNN. BS . If CNN
is looking for solutions, why is PMT, Erin Burnett,
Starting Point & Pundit TV still on CNN ?

Don't believe your lying eyes. Just believe what
CNN says.

Anonymous said...

Here's another of example of how CNN s a
joke. Just now CNN is doing a story on the
Stock Market being down because of France
and Greece. Only problem is that stocks are
now in positive territory. Nobody is minding
the store.

Anonymous said...

Suzanne Malveaux and Brooke Baldwin are getting
higher ratings than Carol Costello and Krya Phillips.
The problem for CNN is from 5 AM- 11 AM. The
ratings go up at Noon.

CNN likely ruined the careers of some really good
journalists. It will be hard for CNN to undo the
image that many have of CNN right now. Once you
put your people out there and make they look silly
you can't just make it disappear. Everyone says
CNN is terrible and it looks like viewers agree.

The weekend is the least thing CNN is concerned
tout right now. Monday-Friday is falling apart.

Anonymous said...

Before the Early Start/Starting Point disaster.
CNN gave us the must annoying tiro ever in
cable news. CNN cancels American Morning
but continues to let Christine Roman and
Carol Costello anchor on CNN. Obviously
viewers don't like them. So why is CNN still
letting Christine Romans and Carol Costello
anchor the news on CNN.

To viewers it looked like CNN only replaced
the annoying trio with annoying pundits. Are
there any brains in the TW building ? You still
have Christine Romans anchoring on the AM
show and 2 hours of Carol Costello. Memo
to CNN : if viewers don't like them together
they sure as hell won't like them anchoring
the news solo.

CNN has learned nothing. The network is now
running a dumb promo saying CNN is # 1.
What is wrong with these people ? Like folks
don't know about the bad press about CNN.
CNN is operating with a failed model. Had
CNN been hiring real deal journalists the
network would be in much better shape.CNN
you don't get news or content with pundits.
You get dumbed down news that no one wants
to watch. Viewers know when something does
not sound right or if a segment is totally made
up to try to fool viewers that it is a legit news
story. Many Americans are media savvy and
have caught on to CNN.

None of this should surprise us. This is the
network that thought they could make Piers
Morgan a journalist. The man was a tabloid
editor and fired for putting fake photos in
a tabloid. Wow, a tabloid had higher standards
than CNN. Those cheesy PMT ads make CNN
look bad. Next CNN thought they could turn Erin
Burnett into a serious news anchor. It didn't
matter that she has never anchored the news.
She comes across as flaky. So no one kept an
eye on this as Out Front was being developed.
Nobody realized that this was a disaster in
the making. Of course with CNN the hits keep
coming. That leads us to Starting Point. Like
viewers are not suppose to notice that is a
show for pundits not journalists. It is also a
blatant dumbed down Morning Joe rip off.
CNN gave the pundits a 3 hours show and
only brought in Soledad to try to give them
news cred. Now Soledad is being ruined by
CNN management's obsession with pundits.
The ratings showed the viewers had it with
CNN and it's love for pundits over substance.
The problem with that is when you are CNN
that is the # 1 way to destroy your network.

For viewers who have waited patiently, you
can't erase that. Viewers saw this train wreck
happen live right before their eyes on CNN.
CNN management does not think.

Anonymous said...

There is a big difference between ratings going up and ratings that are competitive or even respectable. Ratings usually go up as the day progresses for the most part.
And CNN problems don't end at noon. One anchor sleep walks through her program and the other anchor has to depend on her weatherman to get through breaking news.
The weekend is in terrible shape but agree Mon-Fri definitely needs to be the priority.

Anonymous said...

Is anyone really minding the store at CNN ?
Who is in charge of keeping tabs of what
CNN puts on the air ? Just this morning CNN
put the Google self-driving car in the show
business category. I pretty sure that is under
the technology or innovation group. How much
dumber can CNN get ? Thank goodness for
Bloomberg.

Anonymous said...

Some of the arm-chair directors who write on this blog can't even spell correctly...such as George
Stephanoupoulis' name. I may have misspelled it some but I'm a lot closer. Wolf Blitzer...they should have gotten rid of him long ago! He has made so many mistakes, some really bad that would have landed anyone else in the unempl. line. He's a joke!
In the newsroom in our part of CNN, we made fun of Wolf and his mistakes all the time! And then wondered why he was there the next day or week.
Bring back the professional videographers who were fired so iReporters could take over. They're untrained witnesses to news, not journalists. That was one of the downfalls of CNN TV. Some refer to the CNN Brand...what brand? It has been trampled on so badly by top execs who come on board and want to have different named segments and then the news has nothing to do with what the segments are called. Retrain some of the anchors...so many end sentences like a question rather than a statement, like they are unsure of what they are saying. So many of them are really bad, pretty but bad! Fredricka does that less than any of them. She is very good! Soledad - don't know why they hired her in the first place. I like the relaxed format of Robin Meade - She's good but there has to be more hard news and international news as well. Don Lemon is a good anchor but from the recent interview he did on "being CNN's answer"..he's too full of himself.
CNN has a way of putting good talent out to pasture (ex. CNNRadio's leadership wiped that right off the map!) Piers Morgan...he's weak, doesn't fit in the least bit...bring Larry King back until you find a decent replacement - send Morgan back to England ASAP! As CNN TV deleted its 'brand' for the idiotic segments and iReporters, it's descent went faster...Maybe if Ted Turner is even brought back as a consultant to bring CNN back to the elegant status it enjoyed before, would be a big help. He stepped back because he didn't like the direction his dream was being taken. And...last but not least...STOP REPEATING SO MANY SHOWS AND THE SAME VIDEO COVERAGE OF NEWS ALL DAY AND THE SAME PROGRAMS OVER AND OVER ALL NIGHT! Give people a reason to turn CNN on - not change the channel.

Anonymous said...

tWhere is Suzanne Malveau Is she fired from Cnn anonymous