Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live At Daybreak
Big Gets: TV Interview Wars
Aired June 17, 2003 - 05:52 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: TV anchors and news organizations often go to great lengths to try to get that first major interview on a major story. CNN's Dan Lothian takes a look at some of the big gets.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the television interview wars, this is one weapon to hit the ratings jackpot. Get a sought after guest first.
BARBARA WALTERS, ABC NEWS: You had said that oral sex is not a sexual relationship, that you call it what?
MONICA LEWINSKY, FORMER WHITE HOUSE INTERN: Messing around.
LOTHIAN: If Barbara Walters is the mother of all big gets, she leads a competitive family of anchors and hosts fishing for the next big catch. Diane Sawyer got the husband of Modesto murder victim Laci Peterson, and gave Michael Jackson and his then wife Lisa Marie Presley a national stage to declare their love.
LISA MARIE PRESLEY, MICHAEL JACKSON'S WIFE: Yes, yes, yes.
LOTHIAN: Gary Condit ended his silence with Connie Chung, after being courted by everyone with a camera, microphone and air time.
(on camera): Whether it is a confession or denial, an attempt to repair a shattered image or get public therapy, stars and people in the news can be caught in a get race. And while most media organizations won't pay for interviews, everyone gets creative in order to seal the deal.
HOWARD KURTZ, WASHINGTON POST: The anchors write these fawning letters and they send flowers and they send gifts, all designed to sell themselves and their news organization.
LOTHIAN (voice-over): But sometimes it comes down to comfort level, friendships or a show's credibility. The Clintons took time on "60 Minutes" to knock down an Arkansas affair.
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, FIRST LADY: You know, I'm not sitting here, some little woman standing by my man like Tammy Wynet (ph).
LOTHIAN: O.J. Simpson gave his first lengthy public denial to former BET anchor Ed Gordon.
O.J. SIMPSON: I'm as innocent as anyone else out there. LOTHIAN: And actor Hugh Grant figured a chat show would be the best place to play down his encounter with a prostitute.
JAY LENO, HOST, "TONIGHT SHOW": Question No. 1, what the hell were you thinking?
LOTHIAN: Multiple TV news magazines helped fuel competition, launching this media war with no end.
KURTZ: The potential ratings and the lucrative advertising dollars are too great.
LOTHIAN: Incentive no doubt for the latest hunt, former POW Private Jessica Lynch, at the center of a heated debate over how far networks should go to get that first interview.
Dan Lothian, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired June 17, 2003 - 05:52 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: TV anchors and news organizations often go to great lengths to try to get that first major interview on a major story. CNN's Dan Lothian takes a look at some of the big gets.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the television interview wars, this is one weapon to hit the ratings jackpot. Get a sought after guest first.
BARBARA WALTERS, ABC NEWS: You had said that oral sex is not a sexual relationship, that you call it what?
MONICA LEWINSKY, FORMER WHITE HOUSE INTERN: Messing around.
LOTHIAN: If Barbara Walters is the mother of all big gets, she leads a competitive family of anchors and hosts fishing for the next big catch. Diane Sawyer got the husband of Modesto murder victim Laci Peterson, and gave Michael Jackson and his then wife Lisa Marie Presley a national stage to declare their love.
LISA MARIE PRESLEY, MICHAEL JACKSON'S WIFE: Yes, yes, yes.
LOTHIAN: Gary Condit ended his silence with Connie Chung, after being courted by everyone with a camera, microphone and air time.
(on camera): Whether it is a confession or denial, an attempt to repair a shattered image or get public therapy, stars and people in the news can be caught in a get race. And while most media organizations won't pay for interviews, everyone gets creative in order to seal the deal.
HOWARD KURTZ, WASHINGTON POST: The anchors write these fawning letters and they send flowers and they send gifts, all designed to sell themselves and their news organization.
LOTHIAN (voice-over): But sometimes it comes down to comfort level, friendships or a show's credibility. The Clintons took time on "60 Minutes" to knock down an Arkansas affair.
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, FIRST LADY: You know, I'm not sitting here, some little woman standing by my man like Tammy Wynet (ph).
LOTHIAN: O.J. Simpson gave his first lengthy public denial to former BET anchor Ed Gordon.
O.J. SIMPSON: I'm as innocent as anyone else out there. LOTHIAN: And actor Hugh Grant figured a chat show would be the best place to play down his encounter with a prostitute.
JAY LENO, HOST, "TONIGHT SHOW": Question No. 1, what the hell were you thinking?
LOTHIAN: Multiple TV news magazines helped fuel competition, launching this media war with no end.
KURTZ: The potential ratings and the lucrative advertising dollars are too great.
LOTHIAN: Incentive no doubt for the latest hunt, former POW Private Jessica Lynch, at the center of a heated debate over how far networks should go to get that first interview.
Dan Lothian, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
