AM Amnesia: Kiran & John’s “Bad Dream”

Nothing happened between us: really! Today American Morning co-hosts Kiran Chetry and John Roberts treated their viewers as if they had been slipped an extra powerful “roofie” and could not recall not only last night but also almost the entire two full weeks earlier. Back together for the first time since the video of Roberts sniping at Chetry on camera truly went viral, both co-hosts acted as if John’s odd behavior had been merely a bad dream (a la Dallas). But, for the AM acolytes suffering from that “amorous amnesia,” Carpe Diem is happy to jog their memory.

As the author first reported almost two weeks ago (September 8), Roberts appeared to brusquely rebuke Chetry on air while he was doing an interview with David Axelrod, President Obama’s senior adviser. The very next day everything seemed to be reasonably civil between Roberts and Chetry but thereafter both of them did not appear together again on AM until today. In the meantime, the strange episode went viral as Mediaite‘s Steve Krakauer seized the story and it consequently reverberated throughout the media outlets, e.g., Huffington Post, Gawker, and, yes, even the staid TV Guide.

Giving the story even more prominence, Chetry’s former Fox News colleague Juliet Huddy added her two cents on Red Eye. When asked by host Greg Gutfeld about the incident, Huddy opined, “I knew Kiran; we used to work together; [and] I like Kiran a lot. She is a very energetic, hyper girl. She was probably either texting or something like that because she’s very hyper.”* Not wanting to appear malevolent, Juliet animatedly concluded, “And, I love her. I do love her.” Then taking a stab at Roberts, Huddy exclaimed, “I can’t believe he did that. Unprofessional!”

Perhaps, most notably, Chetry’s husband, Chris Knowles, weighed in on the matter. When a Twitter follower asked, “Did you catch JR snapping at your wife this morning?,” Knowles tersely responded, “Noticed and no comment.”

Carpe Diem noticed, too, but did comment. And, now, so have many of the other media watchers. Apparently, AM, like Chetry’s spouse, remains mulishly mute, too timorous to remember more.

*Red Eye – 09/17/10 (@3:18 a.m. ET)

Krakauer’s Kiran Scoop?

Not quite. Over a week after the author penned Carpe Diem‘s “Crusty John: 2 Curt 2 Kiran?,” Steve Krakauer wrote his  Mediaite piece, “CNN’s John Roberts Scolds Co-Author Kiran Chetry Live On-Air.” Appearing to suggest an exclusive, Krakauer wrote, “A few people have asked us why no one’s written about this jaw-droppingly awkward interaction between American Morning co-anchors John Roberts and Kiran Chetry last week.” (N.B. He did not say that no one had written about it.) Immediately thereafter, he added, “After some searching, we found what they were talking about.”

Krakauer did not have to go far. As someone who has noted that Carpe Diem “chronicles cable news morning shows” and extensively cited this Carpe Diem author in his Mediaite article, “Fox and More Than Friends – A Host and Guest iPregnancy” (about the Clayton Morris/ Natali Del Conte affair), Krakauer simply had to go to Carpe Diem‘s site and find the answer there.

Unfortunately, Krakauer apparently forgot to cite Carpe Diem and/or the author this time. Nor did he even provide a courtesy h/t to Carpe Diem or the author. Meanwhile, Krakauer basks in a surreal h/t from the Huffington Report as its source for its story on Roberts’ rudeness to Chetry.

Update: Krakauer’s appreciated response: “Hey I hadn’t seen it on your site – happy to add an update with a link.”

A.M.: AmeriCANNED Morning?

The steady drumbeat of doom continues to eerily echo in the early American Morning air. Today Mediate.com‘s Steve Krakauer authored an article entitled, “Is It Time for Changes at CNN’s American Morning?” (Over a week ago, Carpe Diem had similarly asked, “AM: Shake-up Looming?“) Krakauer cited Dylan Stableford’s TheWrap.com’s Wednesday piece dubbed, “Exclusive: CNN Developing Morning Show” as to CNN creating a “Fox & Friends” pilot to suggest that changes are imminent for CNN’s morning show. In making his case, Krakauer explains the import of AM‘s dismal ratings when he notes that  not only does sister network HLN’s Morning Express with Meade A25-54 demo ratings surpass those of AM, but also FNC’s Fox and Friends A25-54 demographic exceeds AM’s total viewers.

After Krakauer had presented a quite cogent argument as to the probable change, he mentioned that AM co-host Kiran Chetry was “another element.” He keenly queried, “Would a change at CNN in the morning coincide with her contract being up?” Remarking that CNN would not comment, he asserted that others yesterday had and linked to “Another Sinking Show at CNN” by author Glenn Garvin of the Miami Herald’s blog.

The demise of CNN’s American Morning, or, at least, the current format is long overdue. When CNN/US prez took the reins from Soledad O’Brien and Miles O’Brien and gave them to Kiran Chetry and John Roberts, he simply put new “new wine into old wineskins.” And, Fox & Friends‘ superior formula of news with a fun, flirty, and friendly approach continued to win the day convincingly over AM‘s stale recipe of the latest with a staid, distant, and supercilious style.

If Klein indeed revamps his early morning show, perhaps, there is yet hope yet for his anemic evening lineup.