Discontent at CNN's Washington Bureau Following Schedule Changes

With the extention of Rick Sanchez' show, which airs from the CNN center in Atlanta, an hour has been calved off the Washington DC bureau produced 'Situation Room'.  The move has apparently left staffers at CNN's Washington base rather unhappy, something which they voiced when Jim Walton, CNN Worldwide president, showed up for his annual pit stop.

Politico's Michael Calderone writes;

When CNN Worldwide president Jim Walton made his annual appearance before Washington bureau staffers this month, he got an earful over the network’s decision to shave an hour off “The Situation Room” with Wolf Blitzer in favor of rising star Rick Sanchez and “Rick’s List,” his new two-hour show.

Blitzer has a loyal following in the Washington bureau, which, according to one CNN staffer, “tends to be more traditional in its approach to news.” Sanchez, who incorporates Twitter heavily into the show, is viewed by some in Washington as merging entertainment more with the news content than is customary at the network, and at one point Howie Lutt, senior director for “The Situation Room,” stood up and asked the roughly 200 staffers assembled in the bureau to raise their hands if they respect him or Blitzer as a journalist, according to network sources.

Almost everyone assembled raised their hand for Blitzer; only a few showed similar support for Sanchez.

While that response could be taken as a slight to Sanchez, some staffers say it’s more a reflection of the general sense of anxiety as CNN tries to find a winning formula for an afternoon/early evening lineup that’s being soundly beaten by Fox News and prime-time programming that last year for the first time also finished behind MSNBC.

“There’s a lot of change here right now,” said John King, a key component of the new CNN strategy.

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