FMI Media

There is a generation that hasn’t known Walter Cronkite. He was forced to leave his post as the Managing Editor and Anchor of the “CBS Evening News” in March, 1981. He later reportedly said, he didn’t really want to go. And we weren’t ready to see him go. But, corporate politics has a way of catching up with even the best.

Much has been said and written since the news broke tonight at 8:42 PDT that Walter had died.

Just a few weeks ago rumors had swirled that he was dying. While the news was not unexpected, it was still a shock when I received the news on my BlackBerry. We’re now receiving the news primarily from new devices and technology, which, by in large is wonderful. However, that has challenged the so-called traditional media, so much so, media companies are in deep financial distress.

Back when Cronkite anchored the “Evening News” from 1962, when it was just a fifteen minute broadcast, until March 6, 1981, we learned of most major news events from television. Radio news in most markets became, what we call “rip and read.” Afternoon papers were dying. In fact, the year that Cronkite retired from the anchor desk, the coveted “The Washington Star,” then owned by Time, Inc., went out of business. Other dailies would soon follow.

Cronkite is a primary reason why we turned to television news. He was calming, trusted and respected the news. He had integrity. You can’t make that up.

Walter  covered every major news story since he reported on WWII for the United Press wire service. He was at the Nuremburg trials, sitting not far from those in Hitler’s inner circle, who were on trial for crimes against humanity. He was one of the first anchors at the CBS station in Washington, D.C. He anchored the political conventions in 1952 and 1956. He even briefly hosted a CBS morning news show with Dick Van Dyke.

When he took over the nightly newscast on CBS in 1962 from another respected journalist, Douglas Edwards, television news was still in its infancy.

CBS defined quality in broadcast news, both on radio and TV. Cronkite led CBS News to new heights as the primary voice. The 1960s and 1970s were difficult decades. Just a year after Cronkite became the anchor of the 15-minute broadcast, and 2 months after CBS expanded the program to 30 minutes, renamed the “CBS Evening News,” President Kennedy was killed in Dallas.

Millions remember Cronkite’s unflappable presence as he took us through the four days in November when we were in grief and shock.

The stories that followed over the years from America’s deepening involvement in Vietnam, Cronkite’s riveting documentary and commentary about America’s presence in ‘Nam, which may be credited for President Lyndon Johnson’s decision not to seek re-election is quite known.

CBS News’ coverage of the U.S. space program is legendary. Its reporting of the Watergate crisis that brought down Richard Nixon’s presidency has not been rivaled in broadcasting. It was “The Washington Post” and CBS News that persevered. Cronkite convinced Egyptian President Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Begin to agree to be on the same broadcast, later prodding President Sadat to make his historic visit to Jerusalem, Israel, which later paved the way to the peace accord between those former enemies.

Like most of my generation, I can remember almost every major event from the early 1960s, much to the credit of Cronkite.

I was in West Gemany in the summers of 1973 and 1974 as university student during the final two years of Nixon’s reign as President. However, via American Forces Radio, I heard Cronkite and Dan Rather reporting on the severity of what we would later learn were the crimes that Nixon and his men committed. We were in unchartered territory. Cronkite made those events understandable and calming when it came time for Nixon to quit, and later during the early months of the Ford Administration. Our Republic did not collapse.  Other than “The Washington Post” and later “The New York Times,” it was the CBS News team that brought the story home to us. Those reporters were some of the finest in our industry: Eric Severeid, Daniel Schorr, Robert Pierpoint, Bob Schieffer, Harry Reasoner, Bernard Shaw, Leslie Stahl, Mike Wallace, Morley Safer, Richard C. Hottelot, Bert Quint, among so many others.

The world and the media have changed so dramatically since Walter passed the baton to Dan Rather in 1981. We’re now in a 24/7 news cycle via cable, the Internet and social media. Much of journalism today is defined by rumor and gossip. Witness the hysterical coverage of Michael Jackson’s death. The very worst of broadcasting is on exhibit almost daily. Broadcast and print have pretty much evolved into a caricature.

Tonight, CNN was prepared and devoted its prime time to Cronkite’s career. They mainly carried it well. MSNBC had broadcast at least an hour. Cronkite’s successor, Dan Rather, was seen on “The Rachel Maddow Show,” an MSNBC talk show. FOX all but ignored the evening.

What is more startling is that CBS ignored the loss of Cronkite’s death, as well, other than a ‘program interrupt’, read by Katie Couric, at 8:42pm EDT, (5:42pm PDT during the West Coast re-broadcasts of the network newscasts). CBS chose not to air any special programs tonight.

When asked by “The New York Times” media reporter, Brian Stetler, why CBS did not have any coverage tonight, Sean McManus, the CBS News and Sports President said, “few viewers watch on Fridays; Sunday night spot is much more prominent.”

CBS treated its most-respected treasure (since Edward R. Murrow) as a commodity. It wasn’t the first time. CBS all but banished Cronkite to television Siberia. They did not use his knowledge and expertise during his post-anchor years, much like NBC has wisely called on Tom Brokaw to bring perspective and analysis during big events. Cronkite’s most celebrated post-CBS broadcasts were for CNN and the Discovery cable network.

As “The Washington Post” media reporter Howard Kurtz stated on Facebook and Twitter tonight: “Much of the loss of respect for media since Cronkite is the fault of journalists.”

I hesitated to use Cronkite’s most acclaimed closing signature in this piece, but, McManus’s comment pretty much sums up the state of journalism today.

“And that’s the way it is.”

Good bye, Walter. YOU WILL BE TRULY MISSED.

I fly a lot. In fact, I probably have spent more time in the air, then on the ground.

Today, we were flying from Nice to London on British Airways. The aircraft, a Boeing 767, was full. There were several people on the flight we knew. We were coming from Monaco after attending the Monte Carlo TV Festival, where my wife’s movie, “Back Door Channels: The Price of Peace” had its World Premiere. 

The seating configuration was 2 on the left, 2 in the middle and 2 on the right side. We were in the middle section of row 1.

A senior broadcast executive and his wife, a well-known American actress, were to our right. We got to know them during the few days in Monte Carlo at the various receptions hosted by the State Minister (Prime Minister) and H.S.H. Prince Albert, and other fuctions. The executive currently works for a major broadcast network. His chairman, who founded the network, was someone I worked for a few years ago, and a great guy.

Now back to our story. 

As we were awaiting for the doors to close, and to hear those witty comments coming from the flight deck – the British welcoming greetings, details of our 80 minute journey and the weather are always a hit on British flights.

Suddenly, a member of the ground crew walked over and told our friends, “Sorry (the Brits always start with that word), your seats have been moved.” Our friends looked up and stared. They asked why. There was silence. They just HAD to move. 

So, our friends moved from the first row to the fourth row. In the scheme of things, not horrible. But, it was the manner in which the BA staffer insisted.  Then, a man in his mid-40s man, and a woman, with a straw hat, dark glasses , and who appeared to be much older arrived.

It turns out that actress Joan Collins (aged 76) and her fifth husband, Percy Gibson, (according to “Wikipedia”, he’s 44), took over the seats. 

We were told later by a BA stewardess that the former “Dynasty” star and her husband put up a fight at the gate insisting that they sit in the first row. The stewardess said they fly often and they’re very particular. My wife told her that the executive and his wife are well-known. In fact, the actress has starred in two major series on U.S. television, both with wide distribution worldwide. Ironically one of the series is finishing its 7-year run and another one is in its second year.

My point is that BA had no right to abruptly move people just to accommodate Joan Collins and her husband. But, this is how BA treat passengers, who are not in their class of elite. Not my “favourite” airline anymore.

There are few places on our planet more beautiful and relaxing than Monte Carlo, Monaco. The tiny Principality generally has pristine weather, excellent service and wonderful cuisine.

For 49 years, the Monte Carlo Television Festival takes place here.

The Nymph Awards for excellence in television are given each year. It’s also an opportunity for well-known actors and actresses, directors and producers, to be interviewed by the media. Some are here as judges for the Nymph Awards. Others are here to promote their series.

Joe Sargent, who’s a veteran of motion picture and television, is the head of this year’s jury. As television’s history is written, you’ll see his works and think fondly of them. From his early work on “Lassie” to “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.”, the a stunning motion picture thriller, “The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three” starring Robert Shaw and Walter Matthau, (recently remade with John Travolta), the brilliant “The Man” with James Earl Jones; “Col0ssus: The Forbin Project” (his first feature); to some of television’s finest, “The Marcus-Nelson Murders”, which inspired the “Kojak” series; “Tribes” and “The Night That Panicked America”, Joe Sargent is at the top of the list for producing riveting stories that capture quality along with ratings or box office grosses. His most-recent work for HBO, “Warm Springs,” was another brilliant achievement capturing the struggles and determination of FDR when confronting polio, which afflicted him for 25 years until his death. 

It would be wise for television programmers to take a hard look at the likes of Joe Sargent. It’s not too late to save television – broadcasting and cable, from the too frequent scheduling of senseless drama, comedy and the overabundant use of silly reality shows. Our medium will be better for it, as will our viewers.

Like many in the broadcast and media world, I’ve been troubled at the somewhat rapid changes by media owners in order for their TV stations and publications to survive.

What’s even more troubling is the excuse that the current recession is the cause of less paid readers and viewers. This isn’t the case.

For years, television news (both national and local broadcasts) have suffered erosion for many reasons. Yes, there are more channels on cable and satellite. And, we know that younger consumers do not watch or read as much as more mature consumers.

While we are moving more to the Internet and to our smart phones for news, information and recreation, the truth is, the quality of television news and the printed media, has been on the decline for years.

Local news, for example, continues to champion fires, traffic accidents, murders, projecting these stories in a dramatic way with glitzy graphics, sound effects and formats that have become predictable to even the casual viewer. The fact is, with rare occasion, local television news has failed to reach the public with quality, while continuing to accentuate style. It’s the age old debate of quality versus quantity.

The daily paper, the weekly magazine and less frequently published periodicals fell into that trap, as well.

The daily is thinner and not because of the loss of ads. One to two inches of the papers have been cut. Every major paper from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, along with truly local newspapers like the Dallas Morning News, The Arizona Republic (Phoenix) and hundreds of others have chopped the heart out of the papers.

For years, with some exception, the majority of the papers have filled their columns with Associated Press wire copy. In the days before the 24/7 cable news talk channels and the Internet, that would have sufficed. Most papers cannot afford to have correspondents in international and national locales.

Network news is effectively using the video services of the Associated Press and Reuters with voice-overs from their one reporter in London. The networks will air lift a reporter in to a trouble spot and then most of their reporting is commentary.

This didn’t happen overnight. It’s taken years for the bean counters to look at ways to cut the costs, assuming that consumers will come back.

I suspect we will continue to read about more newspapers folding, or shifting most, if not all of their content to the web. The Christian Science Monitor, a niche daily, but an important one with quality in its pages, was the first. The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press will cease home delivery three days a week and shifting their content onto the web.

Now, it’s a matter of survival. The sense of urgency to bring back quality to television news and the newspapers seems to have gone.

The daily newspaper is in big trouble. Readership has been down for years. Consumers just aren’t reading. The analysts like to totally place blame for this on younger consumers as they tend not to read or watch the news. The younger consumers we are told get their information via mobile, the web and radio in brief. That is true.

But, have the publishers and analysts dug deeper to look at the product? Simply stated, the daily newspaper today from The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and smaller ones are not as relevant as they once were. Oh sure, let’s blame it on Generation-Y. The papers have been sliced into smaller ones. We’re told, it’s easier for the consumer. It saves trees. By cutting a column or two columns, there is less news because there are less ads.

The Tribune Company of Chicago has filed for Chapter 11. The Journal Register Company, owner of the New Haven (CT) Register is closing some of its weeklies. The company, which manages joint operating agreement (JOA) that governs the Detroit Free Press (Gannett-owned) and The Detroit News (Media News Group-owned) is now publicly discussing the elimination of home delivery except for Thursday, Friday and Sunday mornings.

Media companies are slashing jobs faster than a moyhel can circumsize a seven day old boy.

They’re making the same mistakes that have been made by the broadcast networks, little three auto makers in Detroit and the so-called ‘legacy’ airlines. They’ve chased the consumer away.

Until they find ways to retain the consumer, we’re now going to see papers close down.

A few years ago, when the network broadcasting system began to show cracks, it would have been unthinkable for one of the three original networks to put a strip show (one that airs nightly) on at 10pm.

But, these are even more trying times today. The network system is broken. It took years, but, with barely 22 hours of original hours for a prime time series, 19 minutes of ads and promos, a larger cable / satellite universe, the Internet, mobile and other entertainment distractions, one of the three networks had to do something.

NBC was put into a very difficult position four years ago when it announced that Jay Leno would step aside next June, 2009 so Conan O’Brien would take over “The Tonight Show”. NBC didn’t want to lose Leno, but there were few options.

NBC’s prime time performance continues to lag. For most of the 1980s and 1990s, NBC dominated. Those days are long gone.

By creating a nightly vehicle in prime time for Jay Leno, NBC keeps Leno from haunting them at another network, (ABC?); it helps the lead-in for the late news on its affiliates, which need a strong lead-in, and the network slashes program development costs. The bottom line is it’s a smart move. Whether the revised format works, is another question. No doubt the program will skew old, but so does most of network television.

NBC changed the rules of the game a bit. It had to.

Let’s be clear, as President-elect Obama, often says. The 3 Detroit automakers want more taxpayer money, because they’re running out of the last bailout. If “Detroit” doesn’t get it, GM says they’ll go broke by year’s end. So, what? I’m sorry for the millions of workers that might be connected to GM and the ancillary businesses, but, the truth of the matter is, we would be rewarding the US automakers for producing crap cars. Yes crap cars.

I haven’t owned a US crap car since 1980 after my Cutlass Supreme died on the Niagara Falls bridge. The starter had to be replaced. This is about 6 weeks after the engine died and something else had to be replaced. And this was after I traded in my previous car from Oldsmobile, a sports car, because the starter died. I’ve never looked back. I’ve been more than pleased with Volvos, Hondas and Hyndais along the way.

If they can produce good to great cars efficiently, why can’t Detroit? In the end, I’m sure Congress will find some reason to throw more money at the automakers, but there must be conditions. It’s not a great time to be taking about more retrenchment. But, the issues that confront Detroit didn’t happen over night. They have been stuck in the deep freeze for at least 40 years.

Officials in Turkey have removed the three-month ban on You Tube and it’s gradually reappearing on computer screens over the past 24 hours and it could take up to 72 hours to be fully accessible.

According to the left-wing 1960s-era British daily, The Guardian, “A court in Turkey has lifted a ban on YouTube, the video sharing website, after hundreds of sites voluntarily blocked themselves in protest at growing internet censorship.”

The Republic of Turkey banned You Tube three months ago for allowing videos that were allegedly critical of modern Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Any criticism of Ataturk is considered against the law.

Turkey was one of four countries to block access to the Web site; Thailand, China and Pakistan continue to impose similar bans. YouTube has been banned in Turkey five times since March 2007.

It’s about time. Censorship accomplishes nothing.

There is enormous interest in the forthcoming presidential elections even though, one could be circumspect watching the cable news-talk channels and wonder how much of it they’re manufacturing the keep their ratings up and take advantage of that on the ad sales side.

I was asked by a colleague overseas, who listens a great deal to American radio stations via the Internet about alternative sources to NPR, which is considered to be the quality radio network for news and information. There really isn’t another national radio station or network in America. The other national services, as we know, are the 4 minute network newscasts on ABC, CBS and FOX, and the mostly syndicated conservative mud wrestling shows.

So, for those of you, in the US and abroad, seeking a local station’s view of the news, along with the local traffic and weather, here’s a list, not in any certain order or preference.

NEW YORK CITY

WINS is one of the best programmed stations in the US, if not the best. Sticks to its format created 43 years ago. An always reliable headline service.

www.1010wins.com

The other all-news New York station is: WCBS 880am. www.wcbs880.com
They’re pretty good, but used to be a lot better.

News talk: WABC Radio
www.wabcradio.com

This is the new flagship for Don Imus “Imus in the Morning” (6-10am ET). It’s also the flagship for Rush Limbaugh.

Talk stations generally program syndicated conservative talk during the day leaving AM and PM drive sometimes to local hosts or news-chat combo.

Washington DC:

All news
WTOP www.wtopnews.com
Well programmed especially in drive times.

News talk: WMAL. Owned by Citadel-Disney/abc
www.wmal.com

Boston:

WBZ

www.wbz.com

Now owned by CBS, as a result of the merger with group w westinghouse, this is the oldest commercial station in the nation not that it means much today.

Los Angeles – all-news:

KNX www.knx1070.com

KFWB is the other all-news station. www.kfwb.com.

Both are now co-owned by CBS like WINS and WCBS. KNX has the traditional CBS newsradio format, which started in 1968 at WCBS. It does break up the format with biz talk late morning/midday. KFWB, the original Group W Westinghouse format (22 minute wheel) ‘You give us 22 minutes, we’ll give you the world’ pioneered in 1965.

News talk:

KFI

www.kfi640.com

Very well programmed. Especially their news. Great use of sounders and jingles. Syndie fare much of the day.

KABC

www.kabc.com

Owned by Citadel-Disney/abc

San Francisco:

All news – KCBS. www.kcbs.com

Talk: KGO www.kgo.com

Owned by Citadel-Disney/abc. A funny historical factoid about their sister tv station, KGO-TV. From the late 1960s until early 1990s, they programmed a very tabloid, downscale newscast, but it was very popular, but ridiculed because it effectively, like the other ABC O&Os, lightened up the news presentation, and gave local TV the reputation that News was just a game, a format, and not serious. KGO was very graphic and risque’. In addition to using the fabulous “Cool Hand Luke” music, created by Lalo Schifrin, which was adopted by all the ABC owned stations, the station didn’t appear to take news seriously. Many in the industry used to refer to the call letters as, “Kicker, Guts, Orgasm.”

http://www.newsmusicnow.com/laloschifrin/coolhandluke/coolhandlukeeyewitnessnews.mp3

Chicago

All news:

WBBM www.wbbm780.com CBS-owned

News talk:

WLS www.wls.com

This should keep you busy through the Election 2012 season.

Obviously, I don’t know much about the Christmas season, although the Lifetime Movie Network has been reminding us that it’s Christmas in July or “A Fa la la July” with some low budget, kitsch holiday movies.

But, I believe there is a Christmas expression used entitled, “the gift that keeps on giving.” This is the story of Lara Lagan, the seemingly very experienced international correspondent, who covers the news during the day in trouble spots, and stays undercover at nights, so to speak.

The Washington Post’s Howard Kurtz has the story this morning of her new position at CBS News, based in Washington, and the exciting news that Lara is pregnant with child. It’s a media shower of sorts

This, of course, welcome news for CBS, because their stock not doing well, and they need publicity. Besides, Lara’s exploits have made her the new poster-babe for the network, in broadsheets and tabloids. Move over, Katie, Lara’s here for to the rescue.

Back From War, Into Tabloid Territory
Foreign Affairs Correspondent Lara Logan’s Public Private Life
By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 8, 2008; C01

After four years of living in Baghdad, war was taking its toll on Lara Logan.

As CBS’s chief foreign affairs correspondent, she regularly risked her life by accompanying American forces in combat. But there were more personal strains as well: Her mother had died after a lengthy coma, she and her husband had long ago agreed to a separation, and, last November, she broke off an intense relationship with another journalist in Baghdad. Soon afterward, Logan started dating Joseph Burkett, a federal contractor stationed in Iraq who was separated from his wife back in Texas.

Now, having just moved to Washington with an expanded portfolio for the network, Logan finds her romantic life reduced to tabloid fodder. And there is a new complication: She recently discovered that she is pregnant.

“Nobody likes to read about themselves like that, especially the way it’s been sensationalized,” Logan says of the coverage that spread to the front page of the New York Post, which called her a “sexy CBS siren” and “in-bedded reporter.” “I hated it. But I’m just going to rise above it and keep going.” The baby is due in January, she says, and she is “looking forward to being a mom.”

Logan, 37, says she and Burkett plan to get married eventually. Her divorce is slated to become final in two weeks, and Burkett’s divorce trial is likely to end next month. But the case has turned decidedly messy, with Burkett’s estranged wife Kimberly, the mother of their 3-year-old daughter, charging that Logan broke up her marriage.

Much of the media interest is fueled by the South African native’s rapid rise to stardom, which has brought her both celebrity status and a string of journalistic prizes, including an Emmy Award, Overseas Press Club Award and, last week, an Edward R. Murrow Award. While some may accuse her of tawdry conduct, what happened to Logan is an all-too-familiar tale of someone consumed by a career and needing a partner who understands the peculiar pressures involved.

“I just surrendered myself completely” to the Iraq story, Logan says. “If you give yourself 100 percent to the people around you, it’s very hard to have anything left. Being away for long periods, when you come home, you can’t explain what it is you’ve been doing to someone who’s never been through it.”

CBS News President Sean McManus calls Logan a “fearless” reporter with “a dynamic quality that just jumps off the screen.” He says he transferred her to Washington to get her on the air more often and that “depending on her situation with her child, I’d anticipate she’d be covering the war in Iraq again.

” . . . All the distractions happening now will at some point be behind her and behind CBS News and she will succeed based on the quality of her work,” McManus says.

Logan married Jason Siemon, a former professional basketball player in Europe who now works as an energy lobbyist in Chicago, in 1998. Soon after that, her career began to take off.

She had spent years as a freelancer for CBS, NBC, CNN and British television, landing a job as a CBS correspondent and “60 Minutes II” contributor only after talking her way into Afghanistan following the Sept. 11 attacks. Not long afterward, she was in a Humvee with members of the 10th Mountain Division on the Afghan-Pakistani border when the vehicle was struck by an antitank missile, causing a fall that tore the skin inside Logan’s mouth and bruised her face. When U.S. forces led the Iraq invasion in 2003, CBS withdrew all its correspondents, but Logan drove back in 10 days later.

“I’m not some Hollywood star,” Logan says in her first interview on the subject. “It’s not about a career for me. It’s who I am. I do this because I believe in it.”

Despite her years of war reporting, Logan has also drawn attention for her striking looks and provocative comments on such programs as “The Daily Show,” where last month she demonstrated how she curses with soldiers. The British press often refers to her as a “former swimsuit model” because of part-time work she did as a student.

As the Iraq conflict dragged on, Logan grew apart from Siemon. The decision to separate was particularly hard for her because her own parents had divorced when she was 8. Siemon could not be reached for comment.

Last year, about two years after Logan and her husband had separated, she began a relationship with Michael Ware, a CNN correspondent in Iraq. Shortly after that romance ended in November, she started dating Burkett, a friend she had met years earlier when both were working in Afghanistan.

Despite his government contracting duties, Logan says, “we always respect each other’s boundaries. We agreed never to talk about our work.”

At the time, Burkett was separated from his wife of 3 1/2 years. He had been in Afghanistan and Iraq, away from their Texas home, for most of Kimberly Burkett’s pregnancy and most of their marriage, according to a family friend who declined to be identified because of a confidentiality agreement in the divorce case. The friend said the marriage had long been rocky and that Kimberly Burkett had asked for a divorce several times. Joseph Burkett would not be interviewed.

In January, Burkett flew home to file for divorce, and acknowledged to his wife that he had begun a relationship with Logan. Kimberly, 32, was hospitalized after taking an overdose of tranquilizers, according to the family friend.

At a court hearing that month, Joseph Burkett told the judge he was having an extramarital affair, and his attorney said that was not the reason for the divorce.

The National Enquirer reported last month on what the tabloid called Logan’s “torrid affair with a married man.” Kimberly Burkett’s lawyer, Susie Chmielowiec, told the supermarket tabloid that “Kimberly believes Lara stole her husband — and now they’re trying to steal her little girl.” The divorce case includes a custody dispute between Burkett and his wife.

Chmielowiec and Burkett’s lawyer, Jonathan Cluck, did not respond to requests for comment. The Enquirer quoted Kimberly Burkett last week as saying that “Lara Logan deserves to be canned” and that her CBS promotion is “a slap in the face to everyone who believes in marriage.”

Carole Cooper, Logan’s agent, says the publicity has been unpleasant. “It has been difficult for her but she’s coping fine,” she says. “She’s a strong woman.”

Logan became pregnant shortly before leaving Baghdad in April, although she did not know it at the time, and flew to New York to sign a new contract that would compensate her for her expanded responsibilities in Washington. Logan had spent the previous two months involved in negotiations that freed a kidnapped CBS videographer, Richard Butler, and says she felt that Iraq had become too dangerous for her. But she still hopes to report from there in the future.

The pregnancy was unplanned. Logan says she lost one of her fallopian tubes during an ectopic pregnancy years ago and believed at her age it was highly unlikely that she could get pregnant. The news came at a time when she was looking to change her life. At CBS, Logan says, “they let me run around the world doing everything I want to do. It’s a dream job, but it comes at a cost.

“Since 9/11, I’ve spent 95 percent of my time on the road, and I do need to have a home at some point. I do need to settle down. I’ve been living like a refugee.”

Howard Kurtz hosts CNN’s weekly media program, “Reliable Sources.”