"La Cebolla de Las Cruces"

April 28, 2009

Former CNN Anchor Moves to The Onion

In yet another sign that the line between real news and fake news is getting thinner, one of CNN’s main anchors during the 1980s and 1990s, Bobbie Battista, has taken a step through the looking glass and can now be seen anchoring reports online for ONN, The Onion News Network.

In the report “Prague’s Franz Kafka International Named World’s Most Alienating Airport,” Ms. Battista reports the fictional news with the same aplomb she brought to the real thing during her 20-year career at CNN.

In a recent interview with the blog CNN Observations, Ms. Battista said she enjoyed the fake reports, though she admitted: “I wasn’t sure I should do them at first.” She also advised aspiring journalists to “practice journalism, not blogging,” and had some harsh words for her former employer for cutting back on international news:

“How often do you see Christiane Amanpour’s reporting on CNN anymore? Very selectively. Her reports and those of others around the globe used to be daily fare. And CNN has closed a number of bureaus overseas as well. The thinking is that people aren’t interested in international news. I think that’s wrong, especially as the world continues to grow smaller and more inter-connected.”

No comments: