Posted on 01/23/2002 12:41:55 PM PST by BC21
Article subject has already been posted previously, but this is a portion of a biased article by E!
Wednesday January 23 03:42 PM EST Anchor Away! CNN Lands Chung Connie Chung has a new assignment.
The veteran TV newshound, who last made headlines when she snared an exclusive interview with Gary Condit during the height of the Chandra Levy case last summer, is leaving ABC for CNN.
The cable news channel captured Chung, the third most high-profile anchor at ABC News behind Barbara Walters and Diane Sawyer, after promising her a chance to host her own prime-time news show--something ABC was unwilling to give.
The thrice Emmy'd Chung, 55, exits ABC with a year left on her multimillion-dollar contract. She will begin her CNN show in the spring, but the exact date has not been announced.
"I'm delighted to be part of an organization of dedicated journalists whose sole mission is to report the news every minute of every hour every day," Chung said at a CNN news conference Wednesday.
Her new boss, CNN Chairman and CEO Walter Isaacson, called Chung a "consummate journalist who brings a wealth of experience and expertise to our network."
For Chung, wife of popular daytime syndicated talk show host Maury Povich, heading over to cable might give her the news cred she was lacking at ABC, where she was best known for interviewing such tabloid faves as Condit and trashy skating queen Tonya Harding (news - web sites).
Chung now becomes the second-highest paid personality on CNN behind Larry King, who just reupped his contract with the network for a reported $56 million over four years.
The move also ratchets up CNN's highly publicized anchor war with upstart Fox News.
CNN hopes the addition of Chung will boost the network's sagging ratings and fend off a fierce challenge from the Rupert Murdoch-owned network, whose tabloid-style shows and so-called "fair and balanced" reporting have put a dent in CNN's former monopoly on cable news.
Chung's show will go up against outspoken conservative commentator Bill O'Reilly, whose The O'Reilly Factor has swiped viewers away from CNN, in the vacant 8 p.m. timeslot previously held by longtime legal affairs correspondent Greta Van Susteren. Earlier this month, Van Susteren was lured away by Fox News to host her own primetime chatfest.
Apparently, that was in retaliation for CNN poaching Fox News' personality Paula Zahn to anchor its morning show. In addition to Zahn, CNN has also recently brought in bespectacled former ABC newsman Aaron Brown, former MTV personality Serena Altschul, sportscaster Keith Olbermann and Anderson Cooper, another former ABC newsman who's best known as host of The Mole
E! calls someone a conservative who supports: hate crime legislation, some gun control, taxing SUV's, alternative fuels, eliminating payroll taxes, national I.D. card, don't ask/don't tell military policy, drug user rehab, anti-capital punishment, believes in global warming, he would "not outlaw abortion," and he would "decriminalize marijuana use." By E! standards this makes one a conservative? I shouldn't be surprised one bit.
Talk Soup is a pretty good show too.
I lost it during the sensitivity/sexual harrassment training video in which a guy was brought to his knees for having a bikini calendar. The instructors said the man needed to go to sensitivity training. I retorted that the minority that would be offended by the calendar should be put in desensitivity training. Didn't get any laughs. I was dead serious.
I'd suggest everyone get active in this fashion. If enough of you insist, CNN is doomed.
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