April 2002
Lights, Camera, “Crossfire”
Live Network Television Becomes a Regular Feature
in the Media and Public Affairs Building
By Thomas
Kohout
Each week night for what could be the next six years, 250 volunteers
will step into a living network television laboratory in the heart of
the Media and Public Affairs Building. For an hour each week night,
subjects will be exposed to fluctuating extremes of political ideology
and debate, the potential side effects of which are yet to be determined.
The venture, the result of an unprecedented agreement between GW and
the Cable News Network (CNN), combines one of the most successful political
affairs debate programs in television history, “Crossfire,”
with an unpredictable, potentially raucous university environment.
“‘Crossfire’ is an unpredictable show, it should be unpredictable,
and to be in front of a studio audience adds a degree of unpredictability,”
says CNN Senior Executive Producer Sam Feist, about why the network
decided to move the show out of the controlled environment of the studio.
“The audience adds life to any program because of their participation.”
With “Crossfire” entering its 20th season, network producers
felt it was time to relaunch the show, explains Feist. “We’ve
changed almost everything. The look has changed, the music has changed,
the graphics have changed, the talent has changed, and the home has
changed.”
Along with the move to the MPA Building and the addition of a live audience,
the program will adjust its format to add two new hosts to the lineup
— former President Clinton staffers James Carville and Paul Begala
— to represent the left. Mainstays Robert Novak and Tucker Carlson
will represent the conservative point of view. Even the length of the
head-to-head political affairs debate show has expanded to a full hour
with the move to GW.
The agreement between GW and CNN calls for a one-year contract with
the option for up to five additional years, as well as amenities that
ensure the arrangement is particularly attractive to all sides.
“From the very start [CNN was] great to deal with,” says Vice
President for Communications Michael Freedman. “They wanted internships,
they wanted students to comprise a big portion of the audience every
night, they wanted students to serve as volunteers, anything we wanted.
There was never a question about whether there would be something in
it for the students or the University.”
CNN also willingly agreed to verbal mentions of GW as the location of
the show at the beginning and the end, as well as a GW banner in the
auditorium that could turn up in audience shots during the question
and answer segments of the program. While CNN is renting the facility,
under terms of the agreement the auditorium still will be functional
for other purposes. CNN will have the space from 4:30–8 pm, Monday
through Friday. GW retains the right to use the facility all other times.
The “Crossfire” hosts and editorial team will prepare each
program from offices located in GW’s Graduate School of Political
Management on the fourth floor of the MPA Building.
There is a lot in it for both sides according to Freedman. “CNN
will get an energized, rejuvenated, new program airing in front of a
lively, energetic studio audience that will participate in the program
every night.” He adds that throughout the negotiations, CNN went
out of its way to ensure that the arrangement evolved into an equitable
partnership and that the network was “very giving to the University’s
needs and desires.”
“This facility was tailor-made for a program like ‘Crossfire,’”
says Feist. “It’s the right size, it’s in the right place
[Washington], the venue is perfect, and the addition of the student
body adds an important element to it — these are people who are
interested in political affairs, that’s why they come here.”
What does the University get out of the deal? The easy answer is a fully
capable network television studio in the Jack Morton Auditorium. The
University is making an investment to finish the lighting, and CNN has
volunteered to install the lights and any other necessary amenities
to make the facility much more functional for network broadcasts. The
University’s other benefits are more intangible.
“This agreement brings something to GW that no other university
on the planet has — live nightly network television programming
that they participate in,” says Freedman. “Within six months,
the entire world will know that ‘Crossfire’ emanates from
The George Washington University.”
Exposure on a global scale could have a significant impact in terms
of recruitment and retention, but the effect on the educational, academic,
and enrichment opportunities for the students could be even more substantial.
“You need a lot of help to produce a program like this,” says
Feist. “You need help taking tickets, greeting guests, but you
also need help conducting research for the hosts, thinking about topics,
and putting the program together.”
Freedman adds, “It wouldn’t surprise me at all if our students
wound up being involved in everything from moving cables, to spotting
for the jib camera, to working on the lighting, to being participants
in the editorial meetings. This is an extraordinary experience —
live network television programming. I don’t know how many people
get to do that in their lifetime.”
According to Feist, while the value of an internship often is measured
in experience, sometimes it comes in the form of opportunity, as well.
“Very frequently we draw our entry-level employees from our former
interns, and all of the “Crossfire” interns will be GW students.”
The procedures for internships are still in development, however they
will be coordinated through the appropriate faculty members within the
schools. For instance, at SMPA, Acting Director Jarol Manheim and the
school’s department chairs will develop and sign-off on the internships
to ensure they meet the academic criteria.
In addition to internships, a large number of volunteers will be needed
to work on the project to serve as ushers, helping with access, and
greeting the VIP guests. According to Freedman, there likely will be
work study positions and a Presidential Administrative Fellowship assigned
to to the project next fall.
“What we are doing is establishing a whole organization,”
explains Freedman.
To that end the University hired GW alumna Heather Clapp to serve as
a full-time coordinating producer for the project. She graduated from
GW in 1998 with a degree in political communications, and worked with
Freedman on the Kalb Report during his first tenure at GW. After graduating,
Clapp worked at CNN under the tutelage of Feist as an associate producer
for three years. During the past year, Clapp served as a senior account
executive at Hill and Knowlton.
“I think if we looked for five years, we wouldn’t have been
able to find a more perfect person for this position,” says Freedman.
Clapp will serve as the liaison between the University and CNN as a
member of Freedman’s communications division, in addition to developing
a long-range process for ticketing. She also will establish relationships
with organizations such as the Hotel Association, Chamber of Commerce,
DC Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, and Congressional offices,
in hopes of reaching out to tourists visiting Washington, DC, particularly
during periods when classes not in session.
“The Jack Morton Auditorium is going to be as vibrant, in the sense
of live television, as Rockefeller Center,” says Freedman. “If
you’ve been there and you’ve felt it, then you know the kind
of electricity of live television. If you’ve never felt it before,
it’s going to be a whole new experience for people here.”
Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu
