Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 5, 1995 TAG: 9505050041
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: FRAZIER MOORE AP TELEVISION WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
That's the obvious remedy two years after CBS, with much fanfare, named Connie Chung co-anchor of the evening news with Dan Rather.
How to fix this mistake? Easy. Let the CBS publicists call a press conference to proclaim ``The CBS Evening News with Dan Rather and Connie Chung'' a triumph.
Then introduce the next exciting breakthrough: a single-anchor format for the newscast, which henceforth would be known as ``The CBS Evening News with Dan Rather.''
Finally, thank Chung for her fine work and announce she is being freed up to focus on her weekly magazine. (No need to mention how ``Eye to Eye with Connie Chung,'' ranked 87th for the season, might not be back in the fall.)
Would reporters fall for such a whopper? Sure - about as much as they bought the official CBS line that pairing Connie with Dan was a way to improve the quality of the newscast and was not, repeat, not, a ploy to boost the ratings.
But desperate times call for desperate measures, and these are desperate times for CBS News, whose flagship broadcast not only languishes in last place ratings-wise, but continues to be hamstrung by this dual (or is it dueling?) anchor format.
Ever since its kickoff June 1, 1993, ``The Dan and Connie Show'' has served as a nightly reminder that two talking heads are not better than one.
Meanwhile, Rather, a man of almost mythic loyalty to CBS News, despite how it ill uses him, may be reaching the end of his rope. He reportedly was outraged at being benched during the first days of the Oklahoma City bombing coverage, which instead became a showcase for the colleague who prefers to be his rival.
With Rather safely out of the picture, this huge, heartbreaking story became a golden opportunity for Chung to show once and for all she isn't a lightweight. That she's more than a limousine chaser. That she's SERIOUS. It was her chance to show her stuff.
Come to think of it, maybe she did. And it wasn't enough. Standing outdoors with the bomb-ravaged office building over her shoulder, Chung appeared out of place and unsure of herself. Viewers had to be wondering, Where's Dan?
But even more embarrassing than her deficient performance was the controversy she stirred up in the process.
Her questioning of local rescue officials on their ability to cope with the tragedy struck some citizens of Oklahoma City as condescending. Exactly how she had slighted them, no one seemed able to pin down. No matter. With breathtaking speed, Chung became persona non grata.
The next morning, she was pilloried on call-in radio. High school students wrote accusing her of having ``insulted not only the people of Oklahoma but the citizens of the United States,'' and the Daily Oklahoman reported this communique. Meanwhile, anti-Connie T-shirts sold like hotcakes.
After more than a week of Connie-bashing, Chung, back in New York, sat down for a satellite interview with CBS' Oklahoma City affiliate last Friday. She apologized for any misunderstanding.
But it wasn't the first setback for Chung, who only in January took a pratfall into another controversy with her ``just between you and me'' interview with Newt Gingrich's mother. An angry Speaker of the House charged that his mom was tricked by Chung. After that came the jokes: ``CBS'' stands for ``Connie Betrays Secrets'' went one.
This, then, is the co-star who continues to crowd Dan Rather and ``The CBS Evening News.''
How long will it go on?
CBS News President Eric Ober didn't answer repeated phone calls for comment.
Maybe that's understandable. Conventional wisdom holds that Ober and others in charge don't want to admit they made a mistake. Nor do they know how to get themselves out of it.
by CNB