CBS Said to Consider Use of CNN in Reporting

[City Lights]

April 8, 2008
CBS Said to Consider Use of CNN in Reporting
By TIM ARANGO

CBS, the home of the most celebrated news division in broadcasting, has been in discussions with Time Warner about a deal to outsource some of its news-gathering operations to CNN, two executives briefed on the matter said Monday.

Over the last decade, CNN has held intermittent talks with both ABC News and CBS News about various joint ventures. But during the last several months, talks with CBS have been revived and lately intensified, according to the executives who asked for anonymity because of the confidential nature of the negotiations.

Broadly speaking, the executives described conversations about reducing CBS’s news-gathering capacity while keeping its frontline personalities, like Katie Couric, the CBS Evening News anchor, and paying a fee to CNN to buy the cable network’s news feeds.

Another possibility, these people said, would be for CBS to keep its correspondents in certain regions but pair them with CNN crews.

But, these people cautioned, no deal was imminent. Sandy Genelius, a spokeswoman for CBS News, said, “We are extremely pleased with and proud of our news-gathering operation. No outside arrangements are being negotiated.” A CNN spokeswoman said, “we don’t comment on speculative business matters.”

more... http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/08/business/media/08cbs.html?_r=2&ei=5088&en=2b319a66f0f1b0bc&ex=1365307200&oref=slogin&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin

[Red Zelda]

1. Just use press releases

...you do it already, assholes.

[MBS]

2. this is very sad

especially since CNN's reporting has also declined.