Jonathan Klein: "CNN should blacklist Talk show pundits"

CNN President Jonathan Klein recently made headlines for suggesting a ban on Talk Shows hosts as debate guests for their political programming.

No More Talk Radio Hosts on CNN?
... in his morning editorial meeting today, CNN/U.S. president Jon Klein asked his show producers to avoid booking talk radio hosts. "Complex issues require world class reporting," Klein is quoted as saying, adding that talk radio hosts too often add to the noise, and that what they say is "all too predictable."

Andy McCarthy of National Review Online comes to the talk show's defense in his post

CNN Bans Talk Radio Hosts
I wonder if the folks at CNN ever actually listen to the in-depth coverage complicated issues get for hours at a time on Rush's show and Sean's show. I wonder how Mr. Klein's assessment of talk-radio dullards squares up with, say, Mark Levin — an authentic scholar of constitutional law and American history, a mega-bestselling author of books on those subjects, and a former chief of staff to an attorney-general of the United States. Or, say, Hugh Hewitt, a cum laude graduate of Harvard, Order of the Coif student at UMichigan Law School, veteran of two prestigious federal court clerkships, like Mark a former Reagan Justice Department official, and now a professor at Chapman Law School. I wonder if Mr. Klein has ever heard Laura Ingraham or Steve Malzberg or Dennis Praeger (and I could go on and on) mixing it up with advocates for every side of every important issue.

Radio talker Hugh Hewitt in defense of his profession takes a similar tact as Andy McCarthy listing the esteemed credentials of his [conservative] peers.

The CNN Blacklist: The Most Busted Name In News Hits Itself In The Eye Again
Sure, I have many conservatives on... they are rarely given anywhere near the time or opportunity for serious conversation on MSM platforms as the left gets on my program or on the programs of my Salem radio network colleagues Bill Bennett, Mike Gallagher, Dennis Prager or Michael Medved. (When did you last see Victor Davis Hanson on CNN?) And CNN never allows the voice of the average center-right American to be heard in the same way that Rush allows, nor for the variety of guests --left, right and center-- plus the fun, passion, and patriotism of Sean Hannity or for the analysis of constitutional issues and presentation of political theory that Mark Levin provides or the humor and guests of Dennis Miller. Let's see, which CNNer has clerked at the Supreme Court as did Laura Ingraham?...

Mark Steyn also comes to Talk Radio's defense in his weekly chat with Hugh. He rebuts Jonathan Klein whilst maintaining his premise

H1: Mark Steyn, Andrew Breitbart (Thursday August 20, 2009)
MARK STEYN: Essentially they are discriminating an entire demographic there. There are plenty of talk show hosts just like there are plenty of cable TV hosts and there are a good Cable TV hosts and there are a lot who are no good and a lot of them happento be on CNN and are dying in the ratings. I don't think this is anyway out of the hole for them, CNN is dullsville a lot of the time...