What was CNN like during the early to mid-nineties?

[rumguy]

I wasn't paying attention to things like media bias at the time, but I remember as being decent and fair.

Wasn't Bernie Shaw a good guy?

And wasn't Blitzer not such a whore back then?

It's like the media in general was more sane back then. I remember being able to find rational interesting discussion of issues and events.

Is it just me, or did things really start to nose-dive in the late nineties?

[shraby]

1. It went to hell when

Ted Turner sold it. Until then it was top of the line in news coverage.

[NMDemDist2]

5. yup that's the deal, when Ted owned it they didn't have

corportate masters calling the shots

[Scairp]

14. Bottom Line

They have sacrificed substance for style. And the truth went out the window too.

[LSdemocrat]

29. Agreed

Remember when CNN actually aired decent documentary specials?

Now its has CRAP like "People in the News"

I can't stand to watch it anymore.

I get nearly all my news from the internet now.

[Cooley Hurd]

35. At the time today CNN was showing "People in the News..."

...Faux actually had news on (well, at least their version of "news").

They wonder why they're trailing FAUX in the ratings...:eyes:

[achtung_circus]

2. Wolf Blitzer was fine as Pentagon Correspondent, nothing too taxing for

him, he has been promoted to his level of incompetence.

[pretzel4gore]

23. it's leslie blitzer dammit

mygod i hate that vile whore.....please don't respect his self chosen 'nick'

[achtung_circus]

26. I didn't know that, too funny

[charlie]

31. "Leslie" is a joke

It was floated at one of those DC Press dinners, I can't remember which. Wolf is his real name.

[achtung_circus]

33. So we can blame his parents for vicarious stupidity? nt

[charlie]

34. Or astounding prescience

Can you think of a more fitting name than Wolf Blitzer for a wartime correspondent?

[Doug Decker]

3. My recollection is that when Time Warner bought...

CNN from Ted Turner, it went to hell. I believe that was in the late 90s.

Bernie Shaw was a great reporter. Blitzer was a war correspondent in Bush I's Gulf War.

[jdsmith]

6. Bernie Shaw's "Gotcha!" question to Dukakis?

He wasn't the most decent guy in the world after all. He was willing to come up with a grandstand question rather than a reasonable one so long as it made HIM the story.

On the other hand, Dukakis SHOULD have had a better answer.

[Doug Decker]

13. It wasn't an easy question, but I agree...

Dukakis' answer was not believeable. THAT was the story, IMHO. The answer made Dukakis appear to be a politician who would say anything, no matter how silly, not to offend.

I don't think we can fairly evaluate Shaw's entire career by one question. I think overall, he was a great asset to journalism, but I will concede that that one episode (or others that I may not remember) was not his best moment.

Some good reporting I do remember, the Columbine shootings and the Oklahoma City bombing, both of which were excellent, live and unscripted.

Thank you for refreshing my memory.

[jdsmith]

17. Roger Simon

In _Road Show_, his book about the '88 campaign, Simon says that Shaw fairly gloated after the debate.

No, Shaw was mostly a good reporter. But that one incident will always leave a bad taste in my mouth.

[TruthIsAll]

10. They went to hell in 1988. The Dukakis rape question.

And they pushed mightily for Gulf War I in 1991.

And went after Clinton from Day 1 in 1992.

Nothing has changed.

[robertpaulsen]

12. "they pushed mightily for Gulf War I in 1991"

Just wondering if anyone out there can access The Onion headline in their archives from January 18, 1991. The headline is "CNN Deploys Troops To Iraq". The subheadline is 'This is War' Says James Earl Jones.

Funny, but pretty accurate. I'm sure everyone here would get a big laugh seeing it.

[rumguy]

15. the onion was around in 1991?

[prodigal_green]

21. yep

it was a weekly paper in Madison Wisconsin. The coupons and police blotter were awesome.

Only thing that got me through grad school with any sanity left.

[htuttle]

27. It was started in the late 1800's by publisher T. Herman Zweibel

Actually, it started as sort of an 'events' calendar in Madison in 1988.

[bluestateguy]

4. It was better back then

FOX made it worse. When FOX overtook them, CNN responded by trying to be more like FOX: flashy graphics, smirky and opinionated correspondents, right-leaning commentary and stories of little newsworthiness.

[boobooday]

7. They used to do news

And be pretty serious about it.

Long time ago . . .

Don't forget that they were eaten by the media merger-monster before it was over.

http://www.wgoeshome.com

[ACK]

8. When the media went freaking nuts -- Gulf War I backlash

Listen folks in freeper land still call CNN the communist news network for their war coverage the first time.

All the major networks saw this and what a bump that Fox got out of being jingoistic and Pro-Amerika.

They were scared shitless of getting the unpatriotic liberal network tag. So they over-compensated like mad.

Everyone was out to show they had no bias to a candidate so they gobbled up the Repuke talking points while the Dems with very real experience manipulating the media in the same fashion were left in 2000 sitting around with their thumbs stuck up their ass going where is the liberal media?

Plus all the FCC media consolidation rule rewrites that happened in the Clinton era to promote competition promoted Murdoch and other huge compaines to gooble up all forms of media so there is a small voice of people feeding you info, they are all owned by the same group of people, and they are paranoid about being blacklisted by the goosestepping freeper fuckwad hosts.

So, they place it safe. So, they buckle under quick. They never take risks and they slant the news to the group of people yelling out them the loudest which happens to be conservative freaks. Local government in the school boards and textbook boards have the same problem with the fundies pushing the agenda for education in their areas.

This war they showed the red, white and blue and were bought by the military with the reporters stationed with the troops and it was just a big fat fiasco. Everyone got a little of Fox News tools of the US government smear on them then.

To summarize:

1. Afraid of right-wing freaks.
2. Media consolidation.
3. Want to be like Fox.
4. Bought and sold by the government with reporters in with the troops.

_

[KharmaTrain]

9. 6 Of One...Half Dozen Of The Other...

I've had CNN since '82. Back then it was nothing more than an anchor sitting at a desk reading news copy and a couple of reports from Washington (Bernie Shaw & Daniel Schorr). The only opinion-type show was Crossfire with Buchanan and Tom Braden (8 is Enough)...who made Alan Colmes sound like Brent Bozell.

The big change happened in the late 80's/early 90's when people started watching and money started pouring in. Gulf Oil I War was the Rubicon...CNN went from news junkies to the "go-to channel".

For the most part CNN played straight-up on its reporting during those years...looking more like a local news station than the glitz and schtick they are now. Oh yeah, they had Larry King...and he actually asked good questions.

Actually CNN was a breath of fresh air. They had some programs, such as their International Report, that was un-cut news reports from all over the world; imagine CNN giving Al Jezeerah 3 minutes of air time now without any editorial control.

It all changed when Murdoch and GE decided to get into the news game and Turner sold out to Time/Warner and that disasterous merger with AOL. In the late 90's a lot of long-time producers and reporters were let go, that's when I noticed a change. There used to be a website run by some of these people that almost prophesized the CNN we see today.

Of all the news channels, I still keep CNN on in the background during the day and it's the "go-to" channel when important news breaks. At least it still serves that purpose.

[Scairp]

11. Who remembers this?

I'm at home, have CNN on, which year I cannot exactly recall, but suddenly, "BREAKING NEWS" logos come up and I stop what I am doing to see what the hell has happened now. Some disaster, a horrible shooting somewhere in a school, don't know for sure but it must be something serious. They always do the "BREAKING NEWS" thing when something bad happens. So I'm waiting...here it comes! It's horrible!! DONALD TRUMP AND MARLA MAPLES ANNOUNCE THEY ARE DIVORCING!! HUH!?! THAT'S the breaking news?! Yes, friends and neighbors, they really did that. I saw it with my own eyes. Since that day I have taken this "BREAKING NEWS" thing with a grain of salt.

[rumguy]

18. that story is symbolic of the media today

no doubt about it

[Scairp]

19. Thinking back

It seemed CNN did go downhill from there. I always wondered if the producer who decided to make something that stupid breaking news lost his or her job that day.

[Scairp]

16. Bump

[depakid]

20. Once the Reagan's FCC repealed the Fairness Doctrine

along with many other media regulations, all of the media outlets got on the right wing bandwagon. It was as much self interest and greed on their part at first, though over the years the ideology began to rule their rationality, morality and journalistic integrity (or utter lack thereof). While you may have noticed a significant drop in issue coverage and discussion in the late 90's (after the Telecommunication Act went into effect) the trend has been going that direction since the mid 80's.

Also, remember that almost all of the media whores we see lying directly into the monitor as just front men and women. The real deception and concealment goes on in the backrooms among the senior news editors. They're the ones who actually decide on the day to day copy that their whores read, though of course, they're ultimately answerable their own higher ups and also to the corporations who buy advertising.

[SoCalDem]

22. When CNN started, they broadcast from a HOUSE

in Atlanta.. It was news all the time..and at night, we got the "daytime news" from around the world.. They had reporters EVERYWHERE..

There were no "stars"..just some broadcasters who were tired of the mainstream news (which was starting to get pressure to "perform").. There was not music..no loud sound effects...no glitzy stages.. just people at a desk, reading news and actually spending whatever amount to time they needed to cover an issue.. There was none of the "we're short on time, so sum up world peace in 10 seconds"...no screaming heads..no sputtering newspuppets..

In other words, it was great !

any time of day or night, you could find LIVE news from somewhere.

[OneTwentyoNine]

24. Remember Bobbie Batista back in the 80's??

She was on all the time,great station that really was "fair and balanced" before it became a BS term of the RW media.

David

[Scairp]

25. I remember her

Wasn't she on the "Headline News" part of CNN?

[0007]

28. Yes, I remember Bobbie and I remember when it was a good News source

[Scairp]

30. Oh wow

I just realized I have finally surpassed 500 posts. It's only taken me about 8 months to do it.

[rumguy]

32. congrats

:toast:

[Scairp]

37. Thanks

Halfway to 1000. :party:

[Spazito]

36. CNN used to have a chat room too, it was pretty good...

chatters from all political sides used to chat there and there was good political debate. They closed it when it became too "left" for the Time/Warner/AOL owners. I missed it till I found DU.