June 7, 2005
The Situation Room: Pretty vacant
CNN is finally putting Inside Politics and Crossfire out of their misery, replacing the mid-afternoon lineup with The Situation Room, a DC based show hosted by the monotone Wolf Blitzer.
Hat: Check
Cattle: None
"There will be no better place to monitor developments than in The Situation Room, whose studio has been expressly designed to incorporate traditional reporting methods with the most innovative online resources, such as blogs, Web sites and podcasts."The program will gather dozens of experts, analysts and opinion leaders, establishing a “CNN Security Council” with expertise spanning topics from personal security to the economy to the war on terrorism. Regular contributors will include former Crossfire hosts Paul Begala, James Carville and Robert Novak; political analysts Victoria Clarke, Jeff Greenfield, Bill Schneider and Carlos Watson; security analysts such as former Defense Secretary William Cohen, Richard Falkenrath, a former terrorism advisor to President George W. Bush, Clark Kent Ervin, former inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security, and John McLaughlin, former acting director of the Central Intelligence Agency; and military analysts Gen. David Grange and Gen. Don Shephard.
"In addition, Jack Cafferty will move from CNN’s morning newscast American Morning to offer commentary and insights on the day’s events; Ali Velshi, host of CNN’s small business show The Turnaround, will contribute regular business updates; and Zain Verjee, co-anchor of CNN’s international news report Your World Today, will report on international news developments. CNN’s groundbreaking Internet reporters Abbi Tatton and Jacki Schechner will cover the blogosphere, reporting on who is saying what and what information can be trusted."
I can safely say that there is absolutely nothing on this show that is the least bit new, save the studio and the hokey "CNN Security Council" gimmick. The talking heads are the same old talking-point spouters, the reporters are just shifted-around CNN geezers and the most groundbreaking segment involves reading off a screen.
Been there (here now?) done that, seen it mocked by Jon Stewart.
Posted by rj3 at June 7, 2005 1:58 PM
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