-Caveat Lector-
<http://www.rollcall.com/pages/news/00/2001/08/news0806b.html>
August 6, 2001
CNN Chief Courts GOP
By John Bresnahan and Mark Preston
In an effort to improve his network's image with conservative leaders, new
CNNchief Walter Isaacson huddled with House and Senate GOP leaders last
week to seek advice on how to attract more right-leaning viewers to the
sagging network.
Isaacson met with Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), Senate Minority Leader
Trent Lott (R-Miss.), House GOP Conference Chairman J.C. Watts (Okla.),
Rep. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) to talk about CNN's
image with conservatives and how it can be improved.
Isaacson confirmed that he also reached out to senior White House
officials, but he denied that he was seeking counsel on how to boost CNN's
ratings with conservative viewers.
"I was trying to reach out to a lot of Republicans who feel that CNN has
not been as open covering Republicans, and I wanted to hear their
concerns," Isaacson said in an interview Friday.
"I definitely did not say, 'How do we attract the conservative
viewer?'"said Isaacson, who stressed that his message was, "Let me hear
what you think of CNN, and I am here to introduce myself."
To Republicans, Isaacson's presence on Capitol Hill is a sign of weakness
and shows how much Fox News Channel, founded just under five years ago, has
eroded CNN's lead as the top cable option for political news.
But Isaacson, the former editorial director of Time Inc., disputed
assertions that he was on a mission to keep up with Fox.
"It really doesn't have to do with any other network," Isaacson said. "It
wasn't some programming strategy or our relationship with Fox or anything
like that."
Nevertheless, Isaacson's counterpart at Fox, Roger Ailes, gently mocked his
competitor's recent swing through Capitol Hill, while admitting it was a
clever business move.
"I think it is a real sign of progress that after [21] years, CNN has found
out that there's more than one point of view,"jibed Ailes.
Democrats, on the other hand, weren't pleased by the spectacle of Isaacson
courting Republicans.
"That is a byzantine thing for the head of a news organization to come up
to meet with one political party to ask what can we do or how do we make
things better," groused a senior Democratic Senator.
"That's an interesting idea of balance," a Democratic Senate chairman dryly
remarked. "It is totally inappropriate."
Isaacson deflected the criticism by saying that he's planning a September
visit to Capitol Hill in which he will "meet with Democrats and more
Republicans."
During this trip Isaacson also intends to sit down with one of CNN's most
vocal Republican critics, House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (Texas).
DeLay, who has lambasted CNN as the "Clinton News Network" and "Communist
News Network," actually suggested a boycott of the network during a recent
bicameral GOP leadership gathering. None of the others Republican lawmakers
who were in attendance agreed to take part.
It also demonstrates to GOP strategists that their unrelenting attacks on
the media, in which television and newspaper reporters are accused of being
biased against Republicans and conservatives, are beginning to hit home
with those who decide what gets aired on the nightly news.
"[Isaacson] is panicked that he's losing conservative viewers," said a top
aide to one of the GOP lawmakers who met with Isaacson.
"He said, 'Give us some guidance on how to attract conservatives.' He said
he 'wanted to change the culture' at CNN. I think he perceived that they
have a problem, and they do have a problem."
DeLay has been particularly vocal in his criticism of the Atlanta-based
news organization.
"DeLay is on a jihad against CNN," claimed another GOP aide, who said the
Texan believes that CNN's coverage of issues clearly favors liberal
Democrats over conservative Republicans.
In a telephone interview on Friday, DeLay himself said he "won't go on CNN.
They have such a liberal bias. It's quite evident to everyone."
Watts, for his part, was muted in his critique of CNN and said that the
network has been fair to him in the past, although he also offered high
praise for Fox.
"Fox is rocking. There's no question of that," said Watts, who had
breakfast with Isaacson last Thursday.
"Do I think that [CNN] has a liberal bias? They probably do," said Watts,
who appeared on the network's "Late Edition" program two Sundays ago. "But
I am still not willing to concede that venue [to Democrats]."
Fox News has cut into CNN's once overwhelming lead in recent months.
For example, an average of 140,000 people were watching Fox News at any
given time between Jan. 1 and Aug. 1, 2000, according to Nielsen Media
Research. During the same time period this year, 282,000 people were tuned
into Rupert Murdoch's news network.
In contrast, 308,000 viewers watched CNN between Jan. 1 and Aug. 1, 2000.
During the first seven months of 2001, viewership climbed to 321,000. CNN
is seen in 82 million homes, while Fox News is available in 67 million
homes, according to Nielsen.
CNNhas also suffered from a series of negative stories in recent years,
ranging from recent layoffs of hundreds of employees to the black eye it
received for its reporting of Operation Tailwind, a piece about an alleged
secret mission by the U.S. Army in Laos during the Vietnam War.
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