Try this test - You are looking for a date. You look at the personals and you see people who state that they are:
- An NPR listener
- A Fox News Watcher
My bet is that you may not like one of these in principal or the other - but that even more than claims to beauty, youth, etc that these two labels tell you more about the person than any other data point. If you are either one of these yourself - you can be assured of compatibility - the pillow talk will work!
Now - here is the CNN bit. Imagine that the personal ad said this:
- CNN Watcher?
What would that tell you? Maybe that they are a news junkie? But I don't think it tells me much about who they are.
I think that this is a serious problem for CNN. Lou Dobss leaving is in this context a huge opportunity.
My fear is that CNN was looking at tow tracks that take them to oblivion:
- Entertainment Tonight
- Fox
Dobbs was a bit of both of these tracks.
They take CNN to oblivion because Fox owns its place and its people and the ET audience will not pay the bills.
Where can CNN go? Who can be its tribe?
I think that there is a a Tribe out there that is under served. It is the old CBS News tribe. The Murrow POV - I think that this is what Ted Turner had in the early years. You could have the world explained to you by the very best journalists on the ground. On the ground in the US and in the world at large.
NPR has a chunk of this Tribe but there are many who feel that NPR is too far to the left of them. NPR may dispute this but the reality is that many feel this to be true so it is. There is a tribe that don't want Fox and they Don't want all of NPR.
In the US it is not a huge mass market - but it is a market that is worth a lot.
The mass market is outside of the US and it is up for grabs and it ties into a more defined market in the US.
Billions in the world outside of the US know the brand of CNN. Most of these people have no local news that they can trust. Most have a cell phone now.
There is a potentially a huge audience for quality local/global news globally - CNN has the brand and the infrastructure to capture this. They used to have this in the old terms of reference - if you wanted to get your message out you used CNN. CNN could get all the great "Gets".
The real deal is a global link up between decision makers and people who care.
The US Real News market is at least as big as NPR's audience - over 30 million - and there must be a billion or so outside the US.
The mass market in the US - where CNN has been focused is a death trap. It's all Balloon Boy all the way!
Am I smoking dope?
Update - Just in John King will take over the slot -
Mr. Klein added, according to an employee who transcribed the call, “Having made a statement that we’re all about nonpartisan journalism and outstanding journalism, we have to live up to that. We have got the hardest mission.”
Mr. King will remain the anchor of “State of the Union” until early in 2010. CNN did not identify a replacement for him.
Only 10 months ago, CNN rebuilt its Sunday morning schedule around Mr. King, giving him four hours for interviews and debates. The channel’s media criticism show “Reliable Sources,” hosted by The Washington Post’s Howard Kurtz, is now shown within “State of the Union.”
In a clear contrast to the outspoken Mr. Dobbs, Mr. King, a former Associated Press writer, is known for his straightforward style. CNN called the forthcoming 7 p.m. program “a definitive political hour that goes well beyond the surface of the day’s top stories to provide in-depth analysis and context to key political movements in Washington and across the nation.” CNN’s chief competitors at that hour are Fox News Channel’s Shepard Smith, a news anchor, and a political commentator, Chris Matthews, on MSNBC.
“John embodies what we are striving for at CNN -– he is steadfast in his objective and nonpartisan political reporting and has the passion for chasing down stories that really matter to Americans,” Mr. Klein said in an e-mail message to staff members.
In a statement, Mr. King said, “There is a lot of noise and conflict in our political discourse, which is fun to cover, but I’m convinced from my travels that people also thirst for more details as well as insight and context. I’m looking forward to combining those conversations with top newsmakers, smart reporting and expert analysis.”
