Mark Porter

John King exemplifies the best of television news anchors. Authoritative and articulate, John King is erudite in his explanations, incisive in his interviews, and almost invariably polite and respectful to his guests. In the past decade+, news anchors on CNN, MSNBC, and FOX News and the Sunday-morning news shows increasingly interrupt their guests and cut off their comments. The anchors want their guests' responses to be brief and quotable -- the cliched "soundbites." Some guests are adept with quick summaries of polemical positions. In answering questions posed to them, especially on complex issues, other people respond with detailed answers. Often, they enunciate essays with articulate beginnings, detailed middles, and conclusive summations. The 21st news-show protocols, however, emphasize terse and speedy replies. Anchors often cut off their guests in the middle of their conclusions, disrupting -- really, destroying -- their summations. Worse, many anchors repeatedly cut off their guests in the middle of their answers, segueing to new points before the guests have answered the previous questions. John King controls his interviews, but he almost never interrupts his guest in mid-sentence. And, when he does, John King invariably apologizes to his guest. When John's guest repeatedly does not answer his question, or fails to explain a controversial statement or polemical stance, John will forcefully press the guest to answer. As a newspaper journalist and editor who served for 40 years, I admire John King for his expertise as an anchor, his panoply of knowledge, and his professional demeanor.