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CNN Saturday Morning News

Interview With Regina Lewis

Aired December 21, 2002 - 09:19   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.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: From the front page to the Web page, what's making news is getting big hits on the Internet as well, like the controversy over Trent Lott and the expected canonization of Mother Teresa.
Regina Lewis from AOL is joining us from Washington. Good to see you.

REGINA LEWIS, AOL ONLINE ADVISER: Hey.

WHITFIELD: Hey. All right, well, let's start with Lott and President Bush. Both of them happen to be top hits?

LEWIS: Yes, absolutely. This story just does not go away. There was a bit of bravado this week online. I think the online crowd was quite proud of their contribution to the public outcry, remembering last week, we reported that in a poll, it was unscientific, but more than million people weighed in, and 53 percent had said that they thought Trent Lott should resign.

Now what's happening is that a lot of people are starting to post messages like, Wait a second, was Bush a little silent here? What does that mean? So I don't think this one is over in terms of the ramifications.

WHITFIELD: Trying to read into it. And I guess, you know, trying to read into whether President Bush himself actually handpicked Bill Frist.

LEWIS: Both of those things. Really, people want to know what Bush's role was in this whole thing. And of course, you see all kinds of speculation. These are all assumptions. None of it is sourced if you're in message boards and chat rooms. But it makes for some interesting reading.

WHITFIELD: All right. A week ago, there was a whole lot of buzz about Sean Penn, and he probably liked it that way, he really got himself out in the forefront on the issue of Iraq.

LEWIS: Yes, he really did. Now, of course, a lot of people are looking for serious information on this crisis, but Sean Penn had the online crowd up in arms. When asked, Should celebrities use their fame to push public agendas, a whopping 64 percent said, No way. And that, and this was interesting to me, people were very quick to say, a full 90 percent said celebrities do not affect their political thinking. Now, I'm sure that there are some folks in the advertising community who would disagree with that, but mostly people were saying, Hey, don't go there, we don't want it.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, 9/11, an indelible print left on so many, and now it seems that the World Trade Center proposals is still a very hot topic of discussion, right?

LEWIS: It really is, yes. This week the seven designs were unveiled, and they were posted online. More than a million people weighed in with their thoughts on the design. What was so interesting is how competitive it is. There was no clear front-runner, although the favorite at this point, based on the online audience, is the twin towers with the green area, designed by the husband and wife design team, the one that had the most -- the large pavilion.

But again, too close to call, and mostly, at the end of it, even after people placed their votes, a lot of people said, Hey, let the families of the deceased decide, take the mayor out of it, take the architects out of it. I'll tell you what I think, but I still think they should get to decide. That was the overwhelming opinion online.

WHITFIELD: OK. Mother Teresa.

LEWIS: Yes, this is an interesting one. On news that she's a step closer to sainthood, we did see a search term spike for Mother Teresa. There is an official site for canonization, and you can really learn a lot. It was interesting to me. I went to chat rooms immediately upon hearing the news, and everybody said the same thing, Isn't she already a saint?

So you can find out the criteria, the fact that you've got to have two approved miracles by the Vatican and things like that. So it was interesting to see that one.

WHITFIELD: All right. In Florida last weekend, the big talk around the country, and even in Florida, was, Got to get my hands on that $100 million. And so somehow lottery picks are now a topic of discussion again.

LEWIS: Yes. Power Ball, one of the single biggest spikers. And we see it not only in Florida but in Virginia and New York, California as well, as people look for the winning numbers. Here you see the top five states in terms of search online activity. This is a real phenomenon. I mean, it used to be that people would wait for the local news or the newspaper to print the winning numbers. Now people are sitting at their computers, and as soon as they are posted, you know, they know whether they're in luck or not.

WHITFIELD: All right. Why is "Amazing Grace," why is "Amazing Grace" a topic of discussion on the Web lately?

LEWIS: It's actually, it's actually "Amazing Race" and "Survivor," the two prime-time reality shows.

WHITFIELD: Oh. LEWIS: That's OK, that's all right.

WHITFIELD: OK, I'm going, What? I don't get it.

LEWIS: Yes. Now, reality TV is always a phenomenon online. It's quite striking, because people get really attached to the characters, much like they do with soap operas, but even more so. They strategize, they want to know the background of the players and all the biographies are posted there. Sometimes they want to apply to be on the shows, and CBS does take applications through their Web site.

And if you want to see really highly produced sites, the prime time reality TV show sites are off the charts. We're talking...

WHITFIELD: Unbelievable.

LEWIS: ... megabucks. They are so highly produced, it's really quite amazing.

WHITFIELD: I do not get it. But, you know, a lot of others do. That's why the ratings are the way they are.

All right, Regina, thanks very much. Good to see you.

LEWIS: OK, take care.

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 December 21, 2002 - 09:19   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: From the front page to the Web page, what's making news is getting big hits on the Internet as well, like the controversy over Trent Lott and the expected canonization of Mother Teresa.
Regina Lewis from AOL is joining us from Washington. Good to see you.

REGINA LEWIS, AOL ONLINE ADVISER: Hey.

WHITFIELD: Hey. All right, well, let's start with Lott and President Bush. Both of them happen to be top hits?

LEWIS: Yes, absolutely. This story just does not go away. There was a bit of bravado this week online. I think the online crowd was quite proud of their contribution to the public outcry, remembering last week, we reported that in a poll, it was unscientific, but more than million people weighed in, and 53 percent had said that they thought Trent Lott should resign.

Now what's happening is that a lot of people are starting to post messages like, Wait a second, was Bush a little silent here? What does that mean? So I don't think this one is over in terms of the ramifications.

WHITFIELD: Trying to read into it. And I guess, you know, trying to read into whether President Bush himself actually handpicked Bill Frist.

LEWIS: Both of those things. Really, people want to know what Bush's role was in this whole thing. And of course, you see all kinds of speculation. These are all assumptions. None of it is sourced if you're in message boards and chat rooms. But it makes for some interesting reading.

WHITFIELD: All right. A week ago, there was a whole lot of buzz about Sean Penn, and he probably liked it that way, he really got himself out in the forefront on the issue of Iraq.

LEWIS: Yes, he really did. Now, of course, a lot of people are looking for serious information on this crisis, but Sean Penn had the online crowd up in arms. When asked, Should celebrities use their fame to push public agendas, a whopping 64 percent said, No way. And that, and this was interesting to me, people were very quick to say, a full 90 percent said celebrities do not affect their political thinking. Now, I'm sure that there are some folks in the advertising community who would disagree with that, but mostly people were saying, Hey, don't go there, we don't want it.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, 9/11, an indelible print left on so many, and now it seems that the World Trade Center proposals is still a very hot topic of discussion, right?

LEWIS: It really is, yes. This week the seven designs were unveiled, and they were posted online. More than a million people weighed in with their thoughts on the design. What was so interesting is how competitive it is. There was no clear front-runner, although the favorite at this point, based on the online audience, is the twin towers with the green area, designed by the husband and wife design team, the one that had the most -- the large pavilion.

But again, too close to call, and mostly, at the end of it, even after people placed their votes, a lot of people said, Hey, let the families of the deceased decide, take the mayor out of it, take the architects out of it. I'll tell you what I think, but I still think they should get to decide. That was the overwhelming opinion online.

WHITFIELD: OK. Mother Teresa.

LEWIS: Yes, this is an interesting one. On news that she's a step closer to sainthood, we did see a search term spike for Mother Teresa. There is an official site for canonization, and you can really learn a lot. It was interesting to me. I went to chat rooms immediately upon hearing the news, and everybody said the same thing, Isn't she already a saint?

So you can find out the criteria, the fact that you've got to have two approved miracles by the Vatican and things like that. So it was interesting to see that one.

WHITFIELD: All right. In Florida last weekend, the big talk around the country, and even in Florida, was, Got to get my hands on that $100 million. And so somehow lottery picks are now a topic of discussion again.

LEWIS: Yes. Power Ball, one of the single biggest spikers. And we see it not only in Florida but in Virginia and New York, California as well, as people look for the winning numbers. Here you see the top five states in terms of search online activity. This is a real phenomenon. I mean, it used to be that people would wait for the local news or the newspaper to print the winning numbers. Now people are sitting at their computers, and as soon as they are posted, you know, they know whether they're in luck or not.

WHITFIELD: All right. Why is "Amazing Grace," why is "Amazing Grace" a topic of discussion on the Web lately?

LEWIS: It's actually, it's actually "Amazing Race" and "Survivor," the two prime-time reality shows.

WHITFIELD: Oh. LEWIS: That's OK, that's all right.

WHITFIELD: OK, I'm going, What? I don't get it.

LEWIS: Yes. Now, reality TV is always a phenomenon online. It's quite striking, because people get really attached to the characters, much like they do with soap operas, but even more so. They strategize, they want to know the background of the players and all the biographies are posted there. Sometimes they want to apply to be on the shows, and CBS does take applications through their Web site.

And if you want to see really highly produced sites, the prime time reality TV show sites are off the charts. We're talking...

WHITFIELD: Unbelievable.

LEWIS: ... megabucks. They are so highly produced, it's really quite amazing.

WHITFIELD: I do not get it. But, you know, a lot of others do. That's why the ratings are the way they are.

All right, Regina, thanks very much. Good to see you.

LEWIS: OK, take care.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com