CNN Pres. Jon Klein Defends “Innately Controversial Decision” To Hire Eliot Spitzer
CNN has decided on their 8pmET program – bringing in Eliot Spitzer and Kathleen Parker – but since the show doesn’t debut until the fall, there’s a lot of time to talk about what the show means.
Howard Kurtz talked to CNN President Jon Klein about the decision on his own network during Reliable Sources yesterday.
In an interesting set-up, Kurtz played clips of CNN’s reporting on Spitzer’s prostitution scandal and subsequent resignation, giving viewers a chance to see Spitzer’s soon-to-be colleagues Wolf Blitzer and John King show very clearly what’s leading to some of the criticism. Kurtz’ first question hit right to the point. “Why did you want a man who proved unfit to serve as governor of New York, who resigned in disgrace, as part of this network?” he asked.
“Eliot Spitzer still has a lot of ideas to contribute, a lot of things to say, and I think our viewers are going to find him a very interesting person to tune into every night,” said Klein.
In the middle of the interview, Kurtz threw out the idea that “a sizable number of people within CNN at various levels disagree with this decision” – a fact that Klein didn’t dispute. “It doesn’t surprise me,” he said. “It’s an innately controversial decision.”
The other story here will be whether this show, despite sounding more like Morning Joe than Crossfire, will shift the long-standing objectivity found in CNN prime time. Obviously there are points of view on every show, otherwise there would be no guests, but the faces of the programs have remained unbiased until, seemingly, now. Klein doesn’t see it as a problem:
I think in this day and age, especially with the rise of blogs and YouTube, there are so many different types of people who have gotten very good at expressing points of view. And I think there’s room for that on the CNN schedule.
Again, this sounds like a discussion of guests. It’s not a bad thing, however, to look to new and unique voices found within the new media to be part of a revamped traditional media lineup. That sort of forward-thinking should be welcomed. But is Spitzer and Parker’s “unpredictability,” a point driven home by Klein, enough to dispel the notion they won’t continue the objective CNN direction? And perhaps more importantly, are unpredictable and nuanced opinions what viewers want?
Here’s the Klein interview:
