March 11th, 2002, 7:57:43 PM
The O'Rudeness Factor: Study Ranks Cable Blowhards
Matt Kempner
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
You can look at it two ways:
(A) Half the nightly hosts on cable news aggressively question their guests and are upfront with their opinions.
(B)
(C) Cable news is rife with rude blowhards.
(D)
A new study of cable news ranks the most interrupting and opinion-spewing anchors and hosts on CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC at night.
It found that half the news personalities frequently stated their own opinions before giving guests a chance to answer questions. And about half the hosts interrupted guests with at least a third of their questions.
Tucker Carlson of CNN's "Crossfire" landed at the top --- or would that be the bottom? --- of the interrupting/opinion-spouting pile, according to the study.
The study was done for PBS' "NewsHour With Jim Lehrer." Andrew Tyndall, whose business is monitoring what's on TV news, conducted the study by analyzing a week's worth of cable news in January.
Tyndall's stats show the least opinion-sharing anchors were Brit Hume on Fox News and Aaron Brown on CNN.
MSNBC's Brian Williams was close behind.
Ranking near the top of the interruption/opinion scale was Fox News' talkmaster Bill O'Reilly. He cut off his guests with almost half his questions and stated his own opinion in 56 percent of his questions.
Viewers don't seem to mind that O'Reilly often drowns out his guests: He has the most-watched show on cable news.
CNN's Larry King landed at the other end of the scale, which makes him . . . a good listener? A wimp?
He stated his opinion 2 percent of the time and interrupted guests with 13 percent of his questions.
Neither network made King or O'Reilly available for comment. But opinion leader Carlson didn't have a problem speaking up.
"I hope I never pretend that I'm objective, because I'm not," said Carlson, who represents the conservative viewpoint on "Crossfire." But he said he doesn't intend to be impolite.
"I really don't care for rudeness," Carlson said. "If I am, I will apologize."
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These Guys would make great posters on BBI!
Matt Kempner
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
You can look at it two ways:
(A) Half the nightly hosts on cable news aggressively question their guests and are upfront with their opinions.
(B)
(C) Cable news is rife with rude blowhards.
(D)
A new study of cable news ranks the most interrupting and opinion-spewing anchors and hosts on CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC at night.
It found that half the news personalities frequently stated their own opinions before giving guests a chance to answer questions. And about half the hosts interrupted guests with at least a third of their questions.
Tucker Carlson of CNN's "Crossfire" landed at the top --- or would that be the bottom? --- of the interrupting/opinion-spouting pile, according to the study.
The study was done for PBS' "NewsHour With Jim Lehrer." Andrew Tyndall, whose business is monitoring what's on TV news, conducted the study by analyzing a week's worth of cable news in January.
Tyndall's stats show the least opinion-sharing anchors were Brit Hume on Fox News and Aaron Brown on CNN.
MSNBC's Brian Williams was close behind.
Ranking near the top of the interruption/opinion scale was Fox News' talkmaster Bill O'Reilly. He cut off his guests with almost half his questions and stated his own opinion in 56 percent of his questions.
Viewers don't seem to mind that O'Reilly often drowns out his guests: He has the most-watched show on cable news.
CNN's Larry King landed at the other end of the scale, which makes him . . . a good listener? A wimp?
He stated his opinion 2 percent of the time and interrupted guests with 13 percent of his questions.
Neither network made King or O'Reilly available for comment. But opinion leader Carlson didn't have a problem speaking up.
"I hope I never pretend that I'm objective, because I'm not," said Carlson, who represents the conservative viewpoint on "Crossfire." But he said he doesn't intend to be impolite.
"I really don't care for rudeness," Carlson said. "If I am, I will apologize."
=======================================
These Guys would make great posters on BBI!