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Boge Quinn
[Ed. Note - I saw this on Newsmax.com on August 6,
2001, and I thought it was hilarious! It's not strictly gun related, but
I thought some of you might enjoy this one. I couldn't resist making a
few points along the way... -Boge Quinn]
CNN News Anchor: Bush Admin Bigs
Choosing Fox over CNN
by Carl Limbacher
WABC Radio host Steve Malzberg got the inside
scoop Sunday on the latest skirmish in the
cable news ratings war between CNN and the
Fox News Channel. Here's Malzberg's report on
his exclusive interview with CNN's new
Headline News anchorman Miles O'Brien:
Veteran CNN newsman Miles O'Brien says that
he sees a disturbing pattern developing where
some members of the Bush administration are
opting to be interviewed on the more
conservative Fox News Channel rather than on
CNN.
"There is a trend here that is of concern.
There are an awful lot of people in the Bush
administration who are going out of their way
to avoid CNN and put themselves on Fox,"
O'Brien told me on my WABC Radio program on
Sunday.
[Ed. Note: Gee, what a surprise! Now that their liberal
pal is out, they see a "disturbing pattern"! -Boge Quinn]
"This is a troubling thing when you start
polarizing the media and it starts
representing various political camps. ... I
see a trend that kind of worries me."
[Ed. Note: Funny, he wasn't worried the past eight
years! -Boge Quinn]
O'Brien, who along with former "NYPD Blue"
star Andrea Thompson will begin co-anchoring
CNN's revamped "Headline News" on Monday in
prime time, says he's well aware of the fact
that in certain circles CNN has been said to
stand for the Clinton News Network. "I never
saw it on a day-to-day basis. I think we are
highly attuned to the criticism, but if you
analyze CNN's track record over the years, I
think you come away with a down-the-middle
report card."
[Ed. Note: Maybe "down the middle" between
Mussolini and Stalin! I'd like to hear the tape on this one, I don't see
how he said this with a straight face! -Boge Quinn]
However, O'Brien admits that appearances
could give the wrong impression. "Yes, we did
have a president [of the network] that was
friendly with Bill Clinton. Yes, Ted Turner
is well known for his liberal causes, so I
guess we had guilt by association."
But O'Brien stressed that "On a daily basis,
there was never any overt pressure to present
a liberal side of things. Nor was there any
overt pressure to take less of a conservative
side of things."
[Ed. Note: This may be true. You don't have to exert
any "overt pressure" to express liberal views and denounce conservative
views when everyone in the place is a liberal! -Boge Quinn]
The 10-year CNN veteran also says that the
success of Fox keeps them on their toes. "We
are aware of it, and the competition from Fox
has made us more aware. We make sure that
we're not allowing any of that to creep in. I
think on a daily basis we double check
whatever we do."
[Ed. Note: I think the only things CNN double checks
on a daily basis are the ratings that show Fox eating CNN's lunch! Liberals
can't seem to understand that most folks in America are right of center
on nearly every issue. When something comes along like Fox News Channel,
something that makes a real attempt at balance and accuracy while affirming
the beliefs of their viewers and recognizing those beliefs as valid, people
respond to it; that makes liberals very nervous because they cannot CONTROL
independent thinkers. -Boge Quinn]
O'Brien also came down hard on Dan Rather's
decision not to broadcast the Chandra
Levy-Congressman [Gary] Condit story until
midstream. He says there was no reason to
hold back. "There was no justified reason to
ignore that story," O'Brien told me. "It was
a news story and it is an interesting bit of
irony that when they start paying some
attention to it [at CBS] they are the leading
contender to get the Condit interview."
[Ed. Note: Interpretation - why didn't we think of
that? -Boge Quinn]
Miles O'Brien and Andrea Thompson will anchor
"CNN Headline News" nightly at 6 p.m. Eastern
time. There has been a lot of controversy
surrounding the hiring of Thompson, who was
an established TV star before leaving to
become a newswoman in New Mexico prior to her
arrival at CNN.
Then there was the fact that she had
previously posed for some revealing photos.
O'Brien says everyone was talking about the
hiring. "It was a bit of an earthquake that
struck our newsroom when she was hired. ... I
was among those who were skeptical."
However, he's now a believer in his
co-anchor. "This woman is committed to what
she is doing. This is a woman who really
wants to do this, and to me that commitment
and desire and that focus will come through
and viewers will respond to it."
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