Jack Cafferty
Jack Cafferty | |
---|---|
Born | |
Occupation | Commentator |
Notable credit | CNN's Situation Room |
Spouse | Carol (died 2008) |
Children | 4 |
Jack Cafferty (born December 14, 1942) is a former CNN commentator and occasional host of specials. In the summer of 2005, Cafferty joined The Situation Room. He left CNN after November 15, 2012.[1]
Career
Cafferty started his career in Reno, Nevada in 1961, as a children's show host at KOLO-TV. He later moved to KCRL-TV, where he served as the station's production manager, and followed that with daytime talk show Cafferty & Company on WDAF-TV in Kansas City, Missouri. In 1974 he became the weeknight co-anchor, and later news director, at WHO-TV in Des Moines, Iowa.[2]
In 1977, Cafferty moved to
In the summer of 2005, Cafferty joined The Situation Room, CNN's weekday afternoon newscast. Cafferty also formerly co-anchored CNN's weekday morning broadcast, American Morning. On The Cafferty File, his nightly segment on The Situation Room, he offers commentary and personal opinions.
In October 2006, Cafferty hosted a five-part miniseries on CNN titled Broken Government detailing problems with the two political parties, government bureaucracy and the federal court system. Viewer e-mail messages replaced the
Cafferty has earned many distinctions in his career, including the
Books
Cafferty is the author of the book It's Getting Ugly Out There: The Frauds, Bunglers, Liars, and Losers Who Are Hurting America, published on September 10, 2007 by John Wiley & Sons.[4] The book is a satirical critique of political and social issues, including the long arm of big business, the Iraq War and Hurricane Katrina, expanding on many of themes covered on Cafferty's Situation Room segment and chastising the growing culture of sensationalism and tabloid journalism in modern news media.[4]
Portions of the book are autobiographical, describing Cafferty's childhood and short-lived military career as well as his foray into journalism. According to Cafferty: "Very little of my back story qualifies as Hallmark Card material, but it may help you to make sense of the way I see and interpret what's going on around me."[4]
Cafferty's second book, entitled Now or Never: Getting Down to the Business of Saving Our American Dream was published by Wiley on March 9, 2009.[5]
Political positions
Bush administration
Cafferty initially supported the
On the
On February 15, 2006, when
Cafferty was reprimanded by the president of CNN when he called
On August 19, 2008, he wrote an article comparing John McCain to George W. Bush, concluding that "I fear to the depth of my being that John McCain is just like him."[10]
U.S. Democratic Party
Cafferty repeatedly accused the Democratic Party of failing to honor their campaign promises to end the Iraq War: "The Democrats were handed a golden opportunity to challenge President Bush on the war when they were given control of Congress in the midterm elections in 2006. So far they have done absolutely nothing."[7] Cafferty once stated that "It seems the Democrats are the greatest thing the Republicans have going for them sometimes."[7] When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that Republicans were using filibuster tactics to block measures to withdraw American troops from Iraq, Cafferty declared: "Baloney, Madam Speaker. Appropriations bills for the war must pass the House of Representatives by a simple majority. It is completely within your power to stop the funding of the war in Iraq. You have simply chosen not to do so. In fact, I did a little homework. The Speaker of the House of Representatives decides which pieces of legislation even come to the floor of the House debate and/or a vote."[11]
Controversial remarks
Cafferty's outspoken and provocative style of commentary has on occasion led to public outcry. Though he acknowledges his habit of "saying some pretty outrageous stuff", Cafferty has characterized this as part of his job description: "I get paid to ask questions I don't know the answers to and to complain about the things that bother me."[4]
Air America Radio
During Cafferty's time as a co-anchor of CNN's morning program, he reported on March 31, 2004 that "It's a red-letter day here in America. Air America, that communist radio network, starts broadcasting in a little while." Cafferty was unyielding when CNN colleague Soledad O'Brien responded by saying that the new talk-radio network was not communist but liberal. He replied: "Well. Aren't they synonymous?"[12]
Middle East
The
On November 17, 2004, touching on the kidnapping and murder of the
China
On the April 9, 2008 broadcast of CNN's The Situation Room, asked to comment on the
A protest was held on April 26, 2008 in front of CNN headquarters in Atlanta.[19] On the same day, a few thousand Chinese and Chinese Americans protested in front of a CNN office in San Francisco. [20][21]
On May 15, 2008, according to
Sarah Palin
On the September 26, 2008 edition of
Nancy Pelosi
Cafferty has been outspokenly critical of
Reckless driving incident
Cafferty pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and misdemeanor charges of reckless driving, assault and harassment after striking a cyclist and knocking him off his bike on May 14, 2003. The bicyclist was slightly injured. A traffic officer and several pedestrians ran after Cafferty's car, but he ran at least two red lights without stopping, according to a police complaint. Cafferty was sentenced to a $250 fine and 70 hours of community service.[25]
Personal life
Cafferty was born in Chicago. He is a recovering alcoholic, an addiction he later attributed to his father's influence. "I was actually taught to drink, without even realizing what was going on, by my dad", he said.[26]
On the September 5, 2008 episode of The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, it was revealed that Cafferty's wife of 35 years, Carol, had died that day of unknown causes.[27] Cafferty acknowledged on his CNN blog that his wife had been responsible for his decision to quit drinking.[28]
Cafferty has been a resident of Cedar Grove, New Jersey.[29][30]
References
- ^ "Jack Cafferty No Longer with CNN – TVNewser". Retrieved 2012-12-06.
- ^ "The brains behind those talking heads" (PDF). Broadcasting. August 28, 1987. p. 42.
- ^ a b "Anchors and Reporters". CNN. 10 July 2005.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-470-14479-4.
- ISBN 978-0470372302.
- ^ Howard Kurtz "Reliable Sources" CNN September 16, 2007
- ^ a b c "Jack Cafferty Live Chat". Huffington Post. 12 September 2007.
- ^ a b Kurtz, Howard (2006-02-27). "Caustic Commentator". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
- ^ a b Sachs, Andrea (15 September 2007). "CNN's Jack Cafferty Mouths Off". Time. Archived from the original on November 1, 2007.
- ^ "Commentary: Is McCain another George W. Bush? - CNN.com". CNN. August 19, 2008. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
- ^ THE SITUATION ROOM. September 12, 2007
- ^ "CNN.com - Transcripts". CNN.
- ^ a b c d "Jack Cafferty In His Own Words". American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. 18 November 2004.
- ^ "The Situation Room". CNN. 2008-04-09. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
- ^ "The Situation Room". CNN. 2008-04-14. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
- ^ CNN apologizes to China over 'thugs and goons' comment by Jack Cafferty Alexi Mostrous, The Times, April 16, 2008
- ^ Protesters target CNN after Jack Cafferty's remarks on China, Los Angeles Times, Retrieved on April 20, 2008.
- ^ "Protesters take CNN to task over commentator's China remarks". (AP). USA Today. April 20, 2008. Retrieved 2013-10-08.
- ^ Flegans, Brian (April 26, 2008). "Chinese protest CNN commentator's critical comments". ajc.com. Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved 2013-10-08.
- ^ "Thousands protest over CNN commentator's anti-China remarks in San Francisco". Window of China. English Xinhua. April 27, 2008. Archived from the original on May 1, 2008. Retrieved 2013-10-08.
- ^ mitbbs.com Archived July 19, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Xinhua News Agency, May 15, 2008
- ^ "title". Cafferty File. CNN.com. September 26, 2008. Retrieved 2013-10-08.
- ^ "CNN's Cafferty Calls Pelosi a 'Horrible Woman'". 13 January 2010.
- ^ "New York: Manhattan: CNN Anchor Fined In Traffic Case". The New York Times. August 6, 2003. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
- ^ CNN Veteran Reporter on Life as an Alcoholic. NPR.org. September 24, 2007.
- ^ "Remembering Carol Cafferty". Cafferty File. CNN.com. September 14, 2008. Retrieved 2013-10-08.
- ^ Cafferty, Jack (March 4, 2009). "Cafferty: My battle with alcoholism". CNN.com. Retrieved 2013-10-08.
- ISBN 0-470-37614-7. Accessed July 6, 2011. "You want to make a teenager appreciate the fact that he or she lives in a great big house in Cedar Grove, New Jersey? Take him down to Newark and drop him off for a day or two in the projects."
- ^ American Morning Transcript, CNN, aired July 2, 2004. Accessed July 6, 2011. "CAFFERTY: I'll tell you what. Put it in a U-Haul. I live in Cedar Grove. Drop it by the house, I'll get rid of it for you, no change."
External links
- Jack Cafferty at IMDb
- Jack Cafferty – official CNN bio.
- The Cafferty File – Cafferty's CNN blog.
- In the Money – CNN site.
- It's Getting Ugly Out There – Cafferty site.