April 16, 2002
Cutting the Ribbon on Crossfire
First Shows Deemed a Success
By Thomas
Kohout
Crowds of students, faculty, and many first-time visitors to The George
Washington University campus lined up outside the doors of the Jack
Morton Auditorium in the Media and Public Affairs Building to observe
an unlikely group of guests during the inaugural week of CNNs
Crossfire.
The nightly topics for the show, airing Monday through Friday from 78
pm, ranged from the Israeli and Palestinian crisis to the stability
of Englands monarchy, and the eclectic mix of political luminaries
including Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle; Democratic National
Committee Chair Terry McAuliffe; Republican National Committee Chair
Marc Racicot; Congressman Bob Barr; Rev. Jessie Jackson; and even Peter
Post, the great grandson of the sage of good manners, Emily Post
have left audiences and the shows staff ecstatic about the early
results.
The early numbers have been very positive, says Sam Feist,
the programs senior executive producer, about the ratings for
the show during its inaugural week. In terms of where we were
last year compared with where we are today, we are significantly better.
Feist adds that the goal of the first week was simply to get the show
on the air and introduce the new hour-long format to the community.
But the audience response, and the relatively problem-free production
during the week, have everyone at the cable network elated.
Everyone at CNN is thrilled with how the first week went,
he says. A lot can go wrong during a live broadcast, but very
few things did. I consider that to be a huge accomplishment.
Among the most satisfying outcomes for the producers have been the mix
of students and people from outside the University, as well as the response
to the phone (994-8CNN) and E-mail (cnn@gwu.edu)
ticket information services.
Were getting great feedback from students, says Heather
Clapp, coordinating producer of Crossfire at GW. In the
first week alone she has responded to several hundred requests for tickets.
Among those requesting tickets to come to GW and participate in Crossfire,
Clapp recalls one guest in particular.
We had a 12-year-old from Houston, TX, contact us about coming
to see Crossfire, she says. He told Clapp he was a
big fan of the show and named all of the hosts and a number of the recent
guests. When we asked if he was a Republican or a Democrat he
said, Im a Democrat, but Im only 12 years old, so
its really too early to tell.
Clapp also has taken to using the University E-mail system to reach
out to various groups on campus. When early crowds seemed to be a little
unbalanced in favor of the Democrats, Clapp sent out the word to boost
audience participation among the GOP loyal.
I wanted to get a little more political diversity in the audience,
says Clapp, joking, I dont want to get in trouble with Bob
Novak.
The inaugural broadcast of
Crossfire at GW featured all four of the shows hosts
Paul Begala, James Carville, Robert Novak, and Tucker Carlson
as well as Daschle in the opening segment and DNC Chair McAuliffe
and RNC Chair Racicot in the second half of the program
Carlson quickly jumped on the senator from South Dakota, asking if Daschle
agreed with the premise that the violence in the Middle East is partly
President Bushs fault, because he hasnt been attentive enough
to Israel.
Daschle responded with the kind of pointed commentary that has made
Crossfire a leader in political debate programming for more
than 20 years. Well, I think what youve seen in the last
six days are six terrorist attacks that require our presence. I dont
think theres any question, Tucker, that unless were there,
as the vice president himself said just recently, we cant possibly
hope to have any kind of resolution here.
The newest coup for the CNN/GW partnership is its inclusion on the Old
Town Trolley Tours route. The agreement is part of long-range outreach
program designed to attract tourists, particularly when school is not
in session. The arrangement establishes GW as a regular stop on Old
Town Trolleys tour of Washington landmarks.
The first week we focused on reaching out to the campus community,
says Clapp of the outreach effort. So far everyone has been really
enthusiastic, and the guests have a lot of fun while theyre here.
Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu