John Avlon Joins CNN as Political Contributor
John Avlon, a political columnist who specializes in the analysis of the country’s independent movement, will serve as a CNN political contributor, it was announced today by David Bohrman, CNN senior vice president of Washington programming and bureau chief. Avlon will appear on the full line-up of CNN programming as part of the network’s diverse group of analysts and contributors.
“Elections are won and lost in the center and having a voice like John that understands centrist philosophy is critical for political conversations,” said Bohrman “With CNN’s commitment to go above and beyond the political spin, John will be able to provide necessary perspective and insight to the network’s viewers.”
“I’m honored to join CNN as part of ‘the best political team on television,’” said Avlon. “As an independent voter and a centrist, CNN is the network which best reflects my values. I’ll continue to stand up to the extremes of both sides—while trying to restore a sense of humor and historic perspective to our political debates—in the belief that most Americans want to move our country not left or right, but forward.”
For the past year, Avlon has made regular appearances on CNN, including launching the “Wingnuts of the Week” segment on American Morning. In addition to writing about the independent movement as a senior political columnist for TheDailyBeast.com, Avlon has authored books on the subject, titled Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics and Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America. He also served as chief speechwriter and deputy policy director for Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Additionally, Avlon has served as a columnist and associate editor for the New York Sun. Avlon received an MBA from Columbia University, and a B.A. degree from Yale University.
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John Avlon, a political columnist who specializes in the analysis of the country’s independent movement, will serve as a CNN political contributor, it was announced today by David Bohrman, CNN senior vice president of Washington programming and bureau chief. Avlon will appear on the full line-up of CNN programming as part of the network’s diverse group of analysts and contributors.
“Elections are won and lost in the center and having a voice like John that understands centrist philosophy is critical for political conversations,” said Bohrman “With CNN’s commitment to go above and beyond the political spin, John will be able to provide necessary perspective and insight to the network’s viewers.”
“I’m honored to join CNN as part of ‘the best political team on television,’” said Avlon. “As an independent voter and a centrist, CNN is the network which best reflects my values. I’ll continue to stand up to the extremes of both sides—while trying to restore a sense of humor and historic perspective to our political debates—in the belief that most Americans want to move our country not left or right, but forward.”
For the past year, Avlon has made regular appearances on CNN, including launching the “Wingnuts of the Week” segment on American Morning. In addition to writing about the independent movement as a senior political columnist for TheDailyBeast.com, Avlon has authored books on the subject, titled Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics and Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America. He also served as chief speechwriter and deputy policy director for Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Additionally, Avlon has served as a columnist and associate editor for the New York Sun. Avlon received an MBA from Columbia University, and a B.A. degree from Yale University.
Why in the world is CNN hiring pundits and
ReplyDeletethey wonder why they are losing out to Morning
Joe and MSNBC. At least MSNBC gets it, viewers
want people who are informed not ideology and
pretend debate and blah blah.At some point I
might just abandon CNN all together. I have not
heard of them hiring any journalists. Something
is wrong here. CNN seems to be heading in the
talk talk talk direction. Maybe they need to hire
Aston to tell them what they need to do. He had
some great insight on last night's 'Nightline'.
CNN it is the 21st century. You don't need more
pundits you need to evolve.In the age of Face
Book, You Tube and Twitter( which is becoming
a major news source by the way), CNN thinks
the pundits matter. Boy Aston is so right about
old media.At some point CNN will stop having
their anchors say following me on Twitter and
use graphics that say follow CNN on Twitter
and Face Book,Way too often I feel like I am
in the middle of a bad info commercial trying
to sell me some cheesy product they know is
totally useless.CNN is suppose to be in the
communication/information biz and they
are mot very good at it these days. When CNN
does this that tells me that they are not
interested in me as a viewer but more
concerned about self promotion.CNN's on
air product does not look real. CNN needs
to hire more reporters/anchors, backpack
and social media journos and others to
expand it news operation. You will not
find news on political blogs or talk radio.
The news will not come to you . It is your
job to find it. Even 'American Idol' is down
in the ratings because it is getting old and
not very good these days.CNN must upgrade
and get at the head of the Information/Digital
Age. There needs to be a new approach to
the news and not the same old stuff that
has been around for 20 years. Move on.
Shepard Smith gave the most dignified commentary on the Gulf oil spill that I've ever heard. It is on TVN and although I rarely watch Fox, if I do, I watch him. He's from Mississippi and he really was emotive and wasn't the least bit afraid of calling out the CEO of BP.
ReplyDeleteCNN could use someone like him on their team.
@7:51 If you want "pretend debate blah, blah, wink, wink," you must try AC's new show on Fridays. He doesn't seem to know if he's an anchor or a talk show host, no a game show host, or is it comedian, but certainly not the respected journo we've come to admire.
ReplyDeleteWhy does CNN continue to let productive talent go down the tubes in search of ratings? First it was John King and now its Anderson and if this was AC's idea because it looked "easy" sitting along side Kelly, think again. Engaging an audience, especially those at home, is a very hard thing to do. She learned her skill from Regis and YOU must learn that skill from HER.
So far YOU haven't. Next time you're on R@K, stop, listen and learn. Watch what she does. She may seem like she's just jabbering but there's a skill and it's called "personalizing."