The September 11th attack
CNN goals clear after tragedy coverage
By David Bauder
Associated Press
NEW YORK — One of the many things to end with the terrible events of Sept. 11 may be CNN's identity crisis.
Associated Press
At least CNN's new chairman, Walter Isaacson, hopes so. He said he has a clearer picture of the cable news network's role after the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
CNN chairman Walter Isaacson says the terrorist attacks have helped to define the network's true mission and the importance of what its journalists do.
"This tragic situation has helped us on our true mission and the vital importance of what we do," Isaacson said. "Our true mission is to do hard reporting and smart analysis. It's to be reasoned and calm and to cover international news in a serious way."
Before the attacks, all the changes CNN made over the past year — the layoffs, programming shuffles and hiring of Isaacson — hadn't changed one simple truth: Fox News Channel was nipping at CNN's heels and CNN didn't know what to do about it.
CNN tried to beat Fox by imitating it. Isaacson said that's over now.
"For a while, CNN was searching for its mission and trying to chase ratings," he said. "I don't know that that's our mission now. I think it reaffirms that we want to attract an audience that wants to be well-informed, and it's not to chase ratings at all."
The news story of the summer — remember Gary Condit? — played to Fox News Channel's strengths in sharp and entertaining prime-time talk.
The news story of the moment, and probably for months to come, plays to CNN's newsgathering strengths, particularly its unmatched presence and aggressiveness overseas.
Viewers seem to sense this. The audience for each of the news networks has grown dramatically after the attacks, but it's grown more for CNN.
CNN averaged just under 3 million viewers for the week starting Sept. 11, up 813 percent from its daily average of 323,000 this year through Sept. 10, according to Nielsen Media Research. Fox increased 478 percent from 289,000 to 1.7 million, and MSNBC grew by 446 percent from 223,000 to 1.2 million.
On the night of Sept. 11, more people watched CNN's coverage than at any point in the network's 20-year history, counting the networks that simulcast CNN's feed.
There's a reason why CBS and ABC have talked with CNN this year about sharing resources. Because of CNN International, it has by far the biggest presence overseas of any U.S. network.
On Sept. 11, CNN was the only network with a correspondent in Kabul, Nic Robertson. Competitors grumbled that CNN was lucky, since Robertson was there on another story, but he was there and others weren't.
Robertson has left, but CNN still has people in Afghanistan.
"Hard news is going to prevail over talking heads because it's happening so fast and CNN is the only network that's able to cover that on a live basis, what is happening around the world," said Porter Bibb, a media specialist for Technology Partners and author of a book on CNN founder Ted Turner.
For all its advantages, CNN is hardly a settled place. One indication was the visible on-air roles given after the attack to Aaron Brown and Paula Zahn, two anchors that hadn't even appeared on CNN before this summer or, in Zahn's case, before the attack itself. All of its broadcast and cable rivals have a more veteran presence.
While Isaacson can talk about not chasing ratings at a time ratings are chasing him, he won't always have that luxury.
CNN's corporate parent AOL Time Warner has demanding profit projections and CNN has been lagging, Bibb said. An ad market that was weak before Sept. 11 and has only gotten worse doesn't help much. CNN also went nearly a week with no advertising after the attack.
Fortunately for CNN, it can now charge more for commercials.
Then Isaacson faces the same problem that bedeviled all his predecessors, trying to get the people who tune to CNN in a crisis from leaving when the crisis is over.
Isaacson believes this situation is much different than past big news events that quickly fade from view.
"I think it has made for a sea change in the public mood, and people's willingness to engage seriously in complicated issues that demand a lot of thoughtful reporting and analysis," the former Time magazine chief said.
Said Bibb: "He hasn't solved the problems at CNN. I think he's addressing them in an intelligent and honest way because he's a journalist. Under the circumstances, it turns out he's the right guy at the right time in the right place."
