He actually had a storied career in
radio and television even before he became known worldwide with his talk show
on cable network CNN, but it was on that talk show which carried his name, that
Larry King became a household word around the globe. His then-uncommon
interview style made all of his guests comfortable enough to talk without the
least concern of having their opinions challenged. Thus, King got to talk with
such a wide variety of people, from celebrities to politicians and even
convicted killers, an incomparable feat. It is thus a sad day for mass media
that this particular giant finally fell.
CNN.com has it that legendary TV and radio personality Larry King
passed away this January 23, at the age of 87. The sad news was broken by his
son Chance on the morning of Saturday, as well as on his authenticated Facebook
page. The latter carried an official statement revealing that King died at
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. No cause of death had been
announced, but it was publicized only this January 2 that King was hospitalized
at that hospital in December of last year due to COVID-19.
The Larry King “method” of
interviewing was ably demonstrated by the man himself on “Larry King Live” in
the over 25 years that it had been part of the CNN programming lineup. While he
followed the standard Q&A format, King made a point of letting those he
interviewed speak their piece without interruption from him. He was
non-confrontational; his questions were open-ended; he rarely read up on his
guests’ works; and he put them at ease by the way he leaned forward to listen
intently to what they say. The total number of King’s CNN interviews was a
staggering 30,000, all divided into 6,000 episodes of his show before he
officially retired back in 2010.
Colleagues particularly on CNN
were devastated at Larry King’s passing. Network founder Ted Turner said he
felt the announcement like a “punch in the gut.” CNN President Jeff Zucker
hailed King as one of the factors that made the pioneering news channel a
staple on cable TV. From the Dalai Lama to Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy, from
Yasser Arafat to all US Presidents starting from Gerald Ford, King helped CNN
audiences learn more from them at the same time he did. The world of news media
is lesser now that he is gone.
Image courtesy of CBS News
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