From the WSJ Opinion Archives
Too Close for Comfort
It wasn't fair to call it the "Clinton News Network." But CNN's departing president should have kept his distance from the man in the White House.
The Cable News Network, which invented 24-hour TV news coverage with its launch in 1980, has hit a rough patch lately. Viewership is down 35% from last year, and during the Republican convention it saw the upstart Fox News Channel almost equal its ratings. On Tuesday CNN president Rick Kaplan was told his contract wouldn't be renewed. A new management team has been brought in to reemphasize CNN's original "hard news" approach. Let's hope that also includes a renewed effort at balance and complete coverage.
Mr. Kaplan, 53, is an accomplished broadcaster with dozens of Emmys to his credit. He was a good administrator, but clearly lost his way directing CNN's programming. A CNN executive said that his biggest failing could be summarized as "He forgot it's the news, stupid."
CNN staffers first became concerned about Mr. Kaplan's approach within days of his appointment as president in August 1997. A former pro football player who had crossed a Teamsters picket line in Miami was viciously beaten by union thugs. There was powerful film footage of the beaten man and his grief-stricken family. The player even happened to be black. Yet CNN barely mentioned the story. Its local reporter was on vacation, and Mr. Kaplan declined to send a reporter to the scene, in sharp contrast with the blanket coverage that the brutal killing of a black man in Texas a few months later received.
There were other instances in which Mr. Kaplan's news judgment was questioned, including several that involved questions about his close friendship with President Clinton. Even though their ratings were strong, Mr. Kaplan canceled "Crossfire Sunday," co-hosted by Lynne Cheney (whose husband is now George W. Bush's running mate) and "Capital Gang Sunday" (hosted by libertarian-leaning James Glassman) in January 1998, just days before the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke. A savvy news executive might have realized he had made a mistake as the scandal mounted and revived the shows quickly. Mr. Kaplan stuck to his decision to replace them with nonpolitical programming.
Mr. Kaplan was always careful to note that his friendship with Mr. Clinton was a longstanding one. They became close in 1977, after being introduced by Susan Thomases, a close friend of Hillary Clinton. Mr. Kaplan and the future first lady were in turn close enough that Mr. Kaplan hired her to work on CBS's coverage of the 1980 Democratic convention.
"I'm not the first news executive to know a president," Mr. Kaplan would say in defending his decision to stay overnight in the White House's Lincoln Bedroom. True, but he may have been the first to take an active role in helping someone get elected president.
Knight-Ridder reporter Marc Gunther profiled Mr. Kaplan in 1994, and noted that his critics believe "Kaplan went beyond friendship during the 1992 campaign when he operated as an occasional and informal adviser to Clinton, while working as Executive Producer of ABC's PrimeTime Live." Tom Rosenstiel of the Los Angeles Times recounted how "Clinton called Kaplan for advice" when the Gennifer Flowers story broke. Mr. Kaplan advised Mr. Clinton to do a national interview with someone like Mike Wallace or Morley Safer of "60 Minutes" (Mr. Clinton eventually chose "60 Minutes," but CBS picked a different reporter). "The night ended for Kaplan at 4 a.m., when Clinton called one last time," Mr. Rosenstiel wrote.
Two months later, Mr. Clinton was in trouble again. Polls showed a close race in the New York primary, and aides suggested Mr. Clinton do the raucous Don Imus radio show. "The appearance was clinched," CNN producer Matthew Saal recalled, "when Rick Kaplan . . . called the radio show to see if he could put the pair together. The answer was yes." Mr. Clinton's clever banter with Mr. Imus was a ratings sensation.
During Mr. Kaplan's CNN tenure, there were no obvious examples of his coming to Mr. Clinton's aid. But there was clearly a wistful regret at the tenor of some of CNN's coverage during the impeachment saga. Amazingly, according to George magazine, Mr. Kaplan said it was a "big mistake" for his network to show its exclusive footage of the hug between Clinton and a beret-wearing Monica Lewinsky. "Clinton probably gave 79 other hugs on that line," said a regretful Mr. Kaplan, noting that Al Gore "also gave God knows how many hugs--not that anyone would care." So if Mr. Kaplan had had his way, the first footage of President Clinton with the woman who led him to commit the crimes that almost brought down his presidency would have been consigned to the cutting-room floor.
In fairness, Mr. Kaplan isn't the first network president to be accused of excessive closeness with partisan figures. Roger Ailes, head of Fox News (on which I frequently appear), was once a consultant to GOP politicians, including President Bush. But since Mr. Ailes left politics to become head of CNBC in 1994, no one has accused him of advising candidates at 4 a.m. Indeed, while at CNBC he hired liberals Geraldo Rivera and Chris Matthews (though the latter has drifted to the right during the Clinton scandals). And there is another difference. "Almost every news story about Roger Ailes tells readers about his GOP past," says Brent Bozell of the conservative Media Research Center. "Almost none of the profiles of Rick Kaplan mentioned his ongoing closeness with Clinton."
I have no doubt that Mr. Kaplan was careful not to cross ethical lines during his tenure at CNN. And I agree that some have unfairly charged that he was running a "Clinton News Network." But it behooves people in the news business to pay attention to appearances.
It's one thing for Bill Kristol, publisher of The Weekly Standard, to attend conservative conclaves. His magazine is avowedly ideological. But CNN claims it offers fair and objective reporting, so its executives create a perception problem when they hobnob with politicians. Here's hoping that Rick Kaplan's successor learns some lessons and rededicates himself to a "just the facts" news operation. Perhaps then CNN might be able to win back some of the viewers it has lost to Fox and MSNBC.
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