I haven’t watched CNN for months – but this is mind-boggling..
Tag Archives: cnn
Zakaria update..
A short recap:
I was just a liiittle bit busy..
Zakaria’s Time Magazine column had some clear similarities to Jill Lepore’s in The New Yorker last week – and Zakaria apologized flat-out:
“Media reporters have pointed out that paragraphs in my Time column this week bear close similarities to paragraphs in Jill Lepore’s essay in the April 22nd issue of The New Yorker. They are right,” Zakaria said in a statement to The Atlantic Wire. “I made a terrible mistake. It is a serious lapse and one that is entirely my fault. I apologize unreservedly to her, to my editors at Time, and to my readers.”
Speculations as to why circle around this:
Many media types assume that this was a mistake made by one of Zakaria’s flunkies/assistants/interns, but in some ways that’s just the proximate cause. A better question would be: why would Fareed Zakaria outsource any writing under his name to others?
Pointing to an overcrowded schedule:
Mr. Zakaria, 48, balances a demanding schedule, doing work for multiple media properties. He is a CNN host, an editor at large at Time, a Washington Post columnist and an author.” Most people who wind up in this situation don’t just snap their fingers and take on all of these jobs at once. It’s a slow accretion of opportunities that are hard to say no until you are overextended.
Meanwhile – thanks blogfriend Moe – turned maverick David Frum comes to the rescue against a barrage of attacks from Zakaria’s enemies – debunking a fresh Wapo story:
Is Fareed Zakaria a quote thief? This is the latest charge brought against the CNN host. From both hard evidence and direct personal experience, I can answer: No.
(..) I have known Fareed Zakaria since 1986. Over those years, we have had our personal ups and downs. As with any of us, there are criticisms to be made of him and his work. Recently he made a serious mistake, for which he has accepted the consequences without self-excuse. But building that mistake into some larger narrative of lack of intellectual integrity? And using charges themselves false in order to tarnish his reputation? That’s plain wrong.
But.. this will probably blow over. Zakaria is solid, and he might just scale down on his commitments for a while. His writing is brilliant and original. He’ll survive this.
Zakaria suspended from CNN and Time Magazine.
This was a bit surprising – as Zakaria is a smart and great writer – but apparently he’s a bit quick at the cut and paste at times, and was caught with plagiarism from the New Yorker this week.
Columns and show suspended.
From Politico:
CNN has joined Time Magazine and suspended Fareed Zakaria following his admission of plagiarism.
“We have reviewed Fareed Zakaria’s TIME column, for which he has apologized,” CNN said in a written statement. “He wrote a shorter blog post on CNN.com on the same issue which included similar unattributed excerpts. That blog post has been removed and CNN has suspended Fareed Zakaria while this matter is under review.”
Here’s an example:
Zakaria in Time:
Adam Winkler, a professor of constitutional law at UCLA, documents the actual history in Gunfight: The Battle over the Right to Bear Arms in America. Guns were regulated in the U.S. from the earliest years of the Republic. Laws that banned the carrying of concealed weapons were passed in Kentucky and Louisiana in 1813. Other states soon followed: Indiana in 1820, Tennessee and Virginia in 1838, Alabama in 1839 and Ohio in 1859. Similar laws were passed in Texas, Florida and Oklahoma. As the governor of Texas (Texas!) explained in 1893, the “mission of the concealed deadly weapon is murder. To check it is the duty of every self-respecting, law-abiding man.”
Jill Lepore in New Yorker:
As Adam Winkler, a constitutional-law scholar at U.C.L.A., demonstrates in a remarkably nuanced new book, “Gunfight: The Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America,” firearms have been regulated in the United States from the start. Laws banning the carrying of concealed weapons were passed in Kentucky and Louisiana in 1813, and other states soon followed: Indiana (1820), Tennessee and Virginia (1838), Alabama (1839), and Ohio (1859). Similar laws were passed in Texas, Florida, and Oklahoma. As the governor of Texas explained in 1893, the “mission of the concealed deadly weapon is murder. To check it is the duty of every self-respecting, law-abiding man.”
CNN frontpage; Tax revenue must up.
It might be a shift of attitude, and it’s about time. We need spending-cuts and more revenue.
CNN headline:
Sorry, GOP: Tax revenue needs to go up
We’ll see what kind (if any) blowback comes on this.
CNN comeback? Ratings boost.
CNN won the primetime cycle Wednesday, mostly due to the extensive Japan coverage.
But the new lineup with new anchors – all the way from Ali, Brooke, Blitzer, onto the primetime hosts of John King, Elliot Spitzer, Piers Morgan and Anderson Cooper – things are getting a lot better. Morgan’s not a favorite, but Elliot is a LOT better on his own, and Brooke is just great.
So get rid of that horrible State of the Union woman, and we’ll do fine on the Sundays also.
From the NyTimes:
Continuing interest in the breaking news out of Japan led CNN to a rare prime-time win over Fox News Wednesday night among the viewers most sought by news advertisers.
CNN’s lineup of hourlong programs averaged 679,000 viewers in the category of viewers between the ages of 25 and 54, edging the perennial leader, Fox News, which had 644,000. All of CNN’s programs, which were dedicated to the events in Japan, showed increases.
While Fox News saw some declines, its two biggest Fox stars, Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity, both won their hours over CNN’s shows. However, their margins in that 25-54 audience were much smaller than usual over CNN’s “In the Arena” and “Piers Morgan Tonight” programs.
Anderson Cooper’s 10 p.m. show, which included extensive live coverage from Toyko, had an across-the-board win over Greta Van Susteren’s 10 p.m. show on Fox News.
More.
Good start – Ed Henry anchors CNN State of the Union.
Finally the sunday show on CNN is watchable again.. for one week-end at least..
CNN SotU – lots better with Ed.
The topics are depressing, of course..
112th Congress, debt, a toxic political climate and problems piling up.
Jon Stewart on Larry King.
Rough start for CNN Spitzer.
Worst primetime ratings in ten years.
From Mediate:
CNN’s prime time ratings woes are only increasing with new program Parker Spitzer.
Monday night was the lowest weekday prime time rating average in more than 10 years, since June 28, 2000. And it wasn’t just the 8pmET that was seeing low ratings.
Larry King had even lower ratings than Parker Spitzer, with just 196,000 total viewers. That’s less than Rachel Maddow’s A25-54 demo average in the same hour.
Spitzer is great for commentary – but he’s way too bossy as anchor. And the back-and-forth between him and Parker is quirky and embarrasing. The chemistry is a bit weird too..
