1989: The Year that Made the Modern World episode 2: A look at tabloid journalism in the late 1980s; sensational TV shows focus on sex, scandal and celebrities, instead of politics; TV show hosts Larry King, Connie Chung and Maury Povich reveal how this new format blurred the lines.
A chronicle of the most consequential events of 1989, which saw the rise of radicalism, the intensification of tabloid news culture, the birth of the internet, and diverse voices gaining unprecedented traction.
1989: The Year that Made the Modern World episode 2 – If It Bleeds It Leads
Larry King (born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger; November 19, 1933) is an American television and radio host, whose work has been recognized with awards including two Peabodys, an Emmy award, and 10 Cable ACE Awards.
King began as a local Florida journalist and radio interviewer in the 1950s and 1960s and gained prominence beginning in 1978 as host of The Larry King Show, an all-night nationwide call-in radio program heard on the Mutual Broadcasting System. From 1985 to 2010, he hosted the nightly interview television program Larry King Live on CNN. He currently hosts Larry King Now on Hulu and RT America during the week, and on Thursdays he hosts Politicking with Larry King, a weekly political talk show which airs in the evening on the same two channels.
Constance Yu-Hwa Chung (born August 20, 1946) is an American journalist. She has been an anchor and reporter for the U.S. television news networks NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, and MSNBC. Some of her more famous interview subjects include Claus von Bülow and U.S. Representative Gary Condit, whom Chung interviewed first after the Chandra Levy disappearance, and basketball legend Magic Johnson after he went public about being HIV-positive.
In 1993, she became only the second female to co-anchor a network newscast as part of CBS Evening News. She was removed in 1995 as CBS Evening News co-anchor after a controversial interview with a fireman, during rescue efforts at the Oklahoma City bombing, which seemed inappropriately combative, and her interview tactics to get Newt Gingrich’s mother to admit her unguarded thoughts about Hillary Clinton.