NEW YORK – Fox News Channel’s Greta Van Susteren doesn’t know what it’s like not to be on top.
“You are talking to the only person in cable news that has always been on the No. 1 cable-news network,” she said.
But when Van Susteren decided to jump from CNN to Fox at the end of 2001, it wasn’t a desire to go with the hot network or the lure of big money (she was offered more to stay). She said the corporate upheaval that swept through CNN in her final year had made it a depressing place to work.
“It was fabulous at CNN until AOL Time Warner came in,” she said. “(CNN founder) Ted Turner made it fun. He was a visionary. All of a sudden, with AOL Time Warner, there were a lot of committees. It was like the Soviet Union. And we know what happened to them.”
Van Susteren spends a lot of time sniping at CNN and its troubled parent in her new book, “My Turn at the Bully Pulpit” (Crown). And she continues to be baffled by the actions of her old bosses – like the way they killed Connie Chung’s highly rated prime-time show because it was too tabloid.
“Connie was doing stories that everyone else in cable news was doing,” Van Susteren said. “But they hung her out to dry.”
If Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes was unhappy with her show, “He would pull me into the woodshed and let me know – but outside, he would defend me with his last breath,” she said.
Van Susteren’s book goes into other issues besides CNN. The least opinionated of any of the Fox News prime-time hosts, she lets readers in on her views about the death penalty, cameras in the courtroom, patriotism and personal responsibility. Those views aren’t easily categorized as left or right, which she believes is in sync with the typical viewer.
“I think most of the people watching are moderates like me,” she said.
While Van Susteren isn’t afraid to take a few whacks at her former employer, she won’t offer an opinion on Fox News Channel’s failed lawsuit to stop Al Franken from using the phrase “fair and balanced” in the title of his new book, which bashes the network and conservative commentators.
“As soon as they hire me for the general counsel’s office,” she said, “I’ll be happy to tell you.”
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AP-NY-08-29-03 0933EDT
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