Crossfired!

[Chmee]

Thank you ...

CNN Will Cancel 'Crossfire' and Cut Ties to Commentator

CNN has ended its relationship with the conservative commentator Tucker Carlson and will shortly cancel its long-running daily political discussion program, "Crossfire," the new president of CNN, Jonathan Klein, said last night.

Mr. Carlson said he had actually quit "Crossfire" last April and had agreed to stay on until his contract expired. He said he had a deal in place for a job as the host of a 9 p.m. nightly talk program on MSNBC, CNN's rival.

One NBC News executive said that no deal had been completed between MSNBC and Mr. Carlson. "Tucker is a great journalist and we are exploring options with him for a 9 p.m. job," said Jeremy Gaines, a spokesman for MSNBC.

"I don't know what CNN is saying," Mr. Carlson said. "But I have no dispute with CNN."

Mr. Klein said the decisions to part company with Mr. Carlson and to end "Crossfire" were not specifically related, because he had decided to drop "Crossfire" regardless of whether Mr. Carlson wanted to stay on.

Mr. Klein said, "We just determined there was not a role here in the way Tucker wanted his career to go. He wanted to host a prime-time show in which he would put on live guests and have spirited debate. That's not the kind of show CNN is going to be doing."

Instead, Mr. Klein said, CNN wants to do "roll-up-your-sleeves storytelling," and he said that was not a role he saw for Mr. Carlson. "There are outlets for the kind of show Tucker wants to do and CNN isn't going to be one of them," he said.

Mr. Klein said he wanted to move CNN away from what he called "head-butting debate shows," which have become the staple of much of all-news television in the prime-time hours, especially at the top-rated Fox News Channel.

"CNN is a different animal," Mr. Klein said. "We report the news. Fox talks about the news. They're very good at what they do and we're very good at what we do."

Mr. Klein specifically cited the criticism that the comedian Jon Stewart leveled at "Crossfire" when he was a guest on the program during the presidential campaign. Mr. Stewart said that ranting partisan political shows on cable were "hurting America."

Mr. Klein said last night, "I agree wholeheartedly with Jon Stewart's overall premise." He said he believed that especially after the terror attacks on 9/11, viewers are interested in information, not opinion.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/06/busin ... sfire.html

[Stofsk]

Tucker Carlson is a great journalist? Hah. Hahahaha. Haha. Heh.

I suppose they were trying to be polite for the PR division. Anyway, based off what I've seen of Crossfire, I won't be sad to see it go.

[Uraniun235]

Mr. Klein said, "We just determined there was not a role here in the way Tucker wanted his career to go. He wanted to host a prime-time show in which he would put on live guests and have spirited debate. That's not the kind of show CNN is going to be doing."

That's not the kind of show Tucker Carlson is going to be doing, either.

Tucker actually unnerves me, based on his reaction to Jon Stewart; was he bullshitting because he's that stupid, or was he bullshitting to try and cover the fact that Jon was correct?

[Petrosjko]

That's not the kind of show Tucker Carlson is going to be doing, either.

Tucker actually unnerves me, based on his reaction to Jon Stewart; was he bullshitting because he's that stupid, or was he bullshitting to try and cover the fact that Jon was correct?

He was bullshitting because Crossfire and its ilk serve as centers for distribution of party one-liners. Both parties believe that the central task facing them vis a vis the public is to reduce their platforms down to one-sentence, monosyllabic statements that can be comprehended by the average voter.

Stewart's comment "I would love a debate show" was exactly what Carlson and his pundit ilk do not want.

[Mayabird]

After Jon Stewart's appearance on that show, it was only a matter of time (and not much of that) before it was cancelled, Carlson's claims about quitting in April aside. I note that no one says that he actually did quit when he says that he did.

[dr. what]

Wait--hang on--are they actually admitting that Jon Stewart may have indirectly convinced CNN to cancel Crossfire?

Jon--this is for you--

[Guardsman Bass]

I didn't see Carlson, but his book was actually very funny.

[Howedar]

Good riddance.

[Zaia]

After Jon Stewart's appearance on that show, it was only a matter of time (and not much of that) before it was cancelled, Carlson's claims about quitting in April aside. I note that no one says that he actually did quit when he says that he did.

Not to mention that quitting in April and staying on until January is rather extensive notice as far as I know...

[Wicked Pilot]

Based on the article I kinda like this Klein character. I hope he sees his vision out.

And I don't suppose anyone knows of any online transcripts from when Steward was on the show?

[dr. what]

And I don't suppose anyone knows of any online transcripts from when Steward was on the show?

Even better--here's the actual clip you can download....

http://www.internetvetsfortruth.org/

[Temjin]

Based on the article I kinda like this Klein character. I hope he sees his vision out.

And I don't suppose anyone knows of any online transcripts from when Steward was on the show?

Video

Transcript

His Reaction on The Daily Show

[Uraniun235]

Tomorrow, I will go back to being funny, but your show will still blow.

Beautiful!

[brianeyci]

Jon Stewart is pretty gifted -- he's intelligent and funny at the same time. He's the definition of charismatic. After building a profile like that, I wonder if he would consider a political career.

Brian