Despite my repetitive bitching about Fox “News” and MSNBC, I am beginning to accept the reality that most television viewers don’t give a shit about legitimate reporting. In our current environment of job losses, wars and fiery rhetoric by media personalities, a lot of folks are like serial sinners seeking salvation at tent revivals.  They are easily converted to the doctines of Limbaugh, Beck and Hannity. I would also mention Maddow, Olberman and others from the left, but most of their viewers are already indoctrinated liberals? CNN is caught in the middle—the network of last resort for straightforward, relatively unbiased coverage of breaking news, politics and catastrophes.

Campbell Brown’s decision to quit her CNN prime time anchor job because of low ratings is added evidence of the diminishing interest in traditional reporting. In an era of shifting blame for failure, Brown displayed unusual candor in announcing her decision. ”As for why, I could have said, that I am stepping down to spend more time with my children (which I truly want to do). Or that I am leaving to pursue other opportunities (which I also truly want to do). But I have never had much tolerance for others’ spin, so I can’t imagine trying to stomach my own. The simple fact is that not enough people want to watch my program, and I owe it to myself and to CNN to get out of the way so that CNN can try something else. CNN will have to figure out what that is.”

I’ve never met Campbell Brown. She arrived at CNN after I departed. But as a matter of personal disclosure, I am a good friend of her daddy, veteran Louisiana politician Jim Brown. And Campbell’s maternal uncle is a nearby neighbor and occasional golfing partner. Actually, my relationship with her father has been strained in times past. He is Louisiana’s former Secretary of State and later, Insurance Commissioner—a job that put us at odds.

During Brown’s bid for relection to a second term as the state’s top insurance regulator, one of his opponents asked me to work for him in the campaign. It was my first venture into election politics—a learning opportunity I couldn’t pass up. Brown was opposed by his former deputy Commissioner, Winston Riddick, a close friend for 20 years and an important source while he was an assistant state Attorney General in the 1980’s. Riddick and Brown had split over the handling of insurance regulatory issues. In fact, Brown was target of a federal investigation. Our campaign centered on the theme, “Do voters want to re-elect a third consecutive Insurance Commissioner destined for prison?” Apparently they did. 

After winning re-election, Brown ended up in prison on charges that he lied to FBI agents. But as I learned in recent years, he was railroaded by agents who withheld notes and other exculpatory evidence that would have led to his acquittal. It was a classic example of lawmen hearing what they wanted to hear, not what was said. More damaging to Brown was the  presiding judge in the case—the same pill-popping federal jurist who handled the trial of former Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards. Like the Edwards case, he denied nearly every motion that would have helped the defense. 

Jim Brown served six months in federal prison. He gives a detailed account of his trial in a book titled, Justice Denied. I think he makes a strong case against the the FBI and ambitious federal prosecutors, who believe winning is more important than justice. Despite our differences during the the 2000 political campaign,  Brown and I have renewed our friendship.

Anyway, back to his daughter, Campbell Brown and her CNN resignation. She fought a losing battle in attracting viewers. Her Fox “News” competitor in the time slot was loudmouth Bill O’Reilly, who built an audience by insulting people. MSNBC featured another loudmouth at 8:00 p.m. EST. Keith Olberman built a smaller audience by insulting Bill O’Reilly. So it was two opinion shows against Campbell’s legitimate newscast—a no-win situation for Campbell and probably for CNN in the near future. So what happens now?

The granddaddy of the Cable News Networks is faced with the dilemma of coming up with a show that competes with loudmouth pundits. It is the same quandry that has haunted television news for 30 years—the decision of giving viewers the news they need to know, or providing the entertainment and conflict they want to watch. As an alumnus of the granddaddy of 24-hour news, I fear that ratings will pre-empt journalistic integrity. And that is what the country does not need. More pundrity.

Interestingly, veteran Democratic political consultant Donna Brazile—a current member of CNN’s crowded stable of pundits—bit the hand that feeds her this week by saying that television news has too many pundits.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/10/donna-brazile-lets-get-ri_n_570421.html

Anyone reading my previous rants on this blog knows that I couldn’t agee more. If I had to make a bet right now on Campbell Brown’s successor,  my money would be on Rick Sanchez—the CNN afternoon anchor, who believes he is more important than the news he is supposed to report.

From the standpoint of credibility, Sanchez in prime time will be another giant step backward for the nation’s “most trusted news channel.”

My memoir, Odyssey of a Derelict Gunslinger, is available at amazon.com and independent bookstores. It offers much more than $19.99 worth of laughs. It is an account of my illustrious (I choose the adjectives) career.