The fact is that a big reason for CNN’s initial success—in addition to live coverage of major events with more detail than the Big Three networks, such as the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion—was its willingness to give voice to those neglected by the Big Three. Crossfire was an even-handed debate show, where conservative direct mail genius Richard Viguerie and Marxist firebrand Christopher Hitchens were equally welcome; Evans and Novak, originally sympathetic to Rockefeller Republicanism, and Evans having been long personally close to the Kennedys, had by 1980 subscribed to the tenets of supply-side economics.
While former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is now a staple on Fox News, in the early 1980s, CBS, NBC, and ABC would seldom, if ever, interview the then-rising GOP star; you had to watch CNN.
This was the era of the federal Fairness Doctrine, when those who opposed the liberal mindset of network media news had to file legalistic requests for airtime, and then might get several minutes in a plain, unexciting format that grabbed the imagination of few viewers. But CNN gave regular gigs to the likes of counter-feminist Phyllis Schlafly. To the news divisions of CBS, NBC and ABC, debate was an alien concept; the public could trust the wise analysis of their anchormen and correspondents and rest easy.
Had that bias not been the case, the Fox slogans “Fair and Balanced” and “We Report. You Decide” would never have resonated with the public and attracted millions of viewers.
With CNN+, CNN clearly misread the appetite of the public, who don’t seek more news from a famous name, but rather reporting that can be identified with by ordinary Americans who aren’t seeking revolutionary transformation in the country.
At a time when it has become trite to observe that the country is divided, it might be of value to reflect that the success story of CNN had everything to do with acknowledging Americans’ differences, and airing them through the relatively new medium of cable television. Had CNN+ been less about talking at viewers, instead of the original CNN vision of giving differing views a way to reach others, it might have had a better chance.
