Doug Clawson, writing for RealClearPolitics' Media Watch section, is brutal on CNN: Using Larry King as am opening to a larger discussion, he declares flatly: "CNN is positively mismanaged these days." As he puts it:
While the show's competitors in prime time are offering programs with pop, King is propped up like some rickety, old, giant hunch-backed puppet in front of that pitch-black backdrop, which I hear Jack Kevorkian even thinks is a bit drab. And is it any surprise that Dr. Death has been another one of King's go-to guests over the years?
Are any decision-makers at the station actually watching this show?! And if they admit they are, how can they not be repulsed and dumbfounded by what they are seeing?!
My gosh, watching that black sludge pour into the Gulf of Mexico is more uplifting and compelling.
So I'll say this one more time: CNN needs to figure out what it wants to be, instead of taking this scatter-shot approach to broadcasting. It needs to chart a course that even Sanchez can understand after ample studying. It needs to reclaim the fair-and-balanced message. It needs to pull King away from his microphone, prop him up in some corner, and make itself relevant to people with at least semi-regular heartbeats.
