CNN tries to stem the leakage.
For new news format, here's the 'Situation'
By Hal Boedeker
Sentinel Television Critic
August 5, 2005
Wolf Blitzer says that CNN's The Situation Room will not be your father's -- or grandfather's -- newscast.
"This is going to be something a lot more exciting to the viewer, and I think, in the end, a lot more helpful," says Blitzer, the program's anchor.
You can judge for yourself when The Situation Room debuts from 3 to 6 p.m. Monday. It replaces Inside Politics and Crossfire. In a preview for the nation's TV critics, CNN's bosses say they have high hopes for the program.
"We're going to try to be transparent," says Jim Walton, president of the CNN News Group. "We're going to try to allow the viewers to know what we know as we know it."
Jon Klein, president of CNN/U.S., says the fast-paced program will showcase Washington and world correspondents, as well as top-notch analysts and commentators. Those include CNN's Jeff Greenfield and Bill Schneider, as well as former Crossfire hosts Paul Begala, James Carville and Robert Novak.
"You'll get plenty of depth and insight, as well as the news that happens to be breaking at the moment, as well as news reports that we've been working [on] for several days," Klein says.
Blitzer says his approach will be different from that of traditional anchors. "You won't just be seeing an anchor sitting behind a desk, reading a teleprompter," he says. "We're going to try to do it in a looser, in a less formalistic style."
The newscast will come from a new Washington studio with two walls of video screens that bring in satellite feeds from around the world. The program will embrace the Internet, blogs and podcasting.
Blitzer says the presentation should appeal to CNN's audience of affluent news junkies. "They want to be part of this," he says, "and we're going to let them be part of it in a more transparent way."
orlandosentinel.com |
