Now You See Him, Now You Don’t And Now He’s Ba-Ack

When former Nixon speechwriter and ultraconservative ideologue Pat Buchanan returns to CNN’s “Crossfire” this week, you won’t see a title superimposed along the lower third of his television screen that says “Perennial presidential candidate/permanent CNN ‘Crossfire’ host.”

Nor will you see a disclaimer or advisory at the beginning of the program explaining why the controversial journalist-turned-politician is allowed by CNN management to bounce back and forth between two professions at his will.

But you should.

You should know the story-behind-the-story involving any journalist organization and its newspeople who are allowed to engage in a game of peek-a-boo between the hound and the hounded, without any fear of retribution.

That’s precisely what’s happening in the Buchanan case - and it’s one more compelling reason for an already skeptical public to become even more suspicious, if not cynical, about journalism than it already is.

I’ve often wondered about the line between politics and journalism becoming more blurred because of the increasing responsibility of both jobs to uphold the public’s trust. Buchanan and CNN’s on-and-off marriage, regrettably, has taken respect for the two professions to a new myopic low.

CNN has made a huge mistake. It just doesn’t seem to matter with the Time Warner cable executives that it’s difficult for anyone to wear both hats and still be fair and objective with the show’s subjects, who don’t necessarily embrace the co-host’s ideological views. In Buchanan’s case, his white-hot, far-right conservative ideology oftentimes is off the scales.

For the record, this is the second time in a four-year period, following two unsuccessful presidential bids, that the combative columnist and TV commentator has been allowed to come and go at CNN as he pleases.

Of course, it’s nice work anytime you can get it. It’s just that in Buchanan’s case, CNN’s acquiescence does nothing to enhance its own journalistic credibility - not to mention any lessening of Buchanan’s well-documented penchant for controversy involving racially insensitive statements about blacks and Jews.

Apparently, CNN officials prefer to brush aside any journalistic ethical questions in favor of possible higher ratings for “Crossfire.” I’m convinced this programming motive lies at the heart of the Buchanan issue - and contributed mightily to his well-publicized return.

CNN can’t be allowed to have it both ways. At a time when public opinion of journalism and politics is at an all-time low, thanks to persistent questions about reporters’ credibility and politicians’ Machiavellian tendency to do almost anything to stay in office, the last thing this country needs is more grist for cynicism.

The Buchanan-“Crossfire” matter could have been prevented. It’s not as if the pool of telegenic, eloquent conservatives has suddenly dried up. So, why muddy the journalistic waters with a needless bit of controversy - if you are a CNN with no guarantee of a ratings outcome?

Viewers are a demanding group. And, what was popular 18 months ago may fall flat on its face, with no appreciable change in the dynamics or points of view on a given program.

Granted, the fiery and sometimes abrasive one-time wordsmith is not the first high-profile journalist to jump ship to a politically charged environment. Broadcast news pioneer Edward R. Murrow did it before he went on to journalism heaven. So did the late NBC stalwart John Chancellor, along with columnist-radio-TV commentator Carl Rowan, who after four decades in the news business is still going strong.

ABC News’ Dorrance Smith was also a journalistic renegade in the Bush administration, as White House communications director. But he has returned to his executive producer post with the popular “This Week” program based in Washington, D.C., ostensibly happy he was allowed to come back to his ABC home.

But Buchanan differs from Smith and the other journalism greats in that he can’t seem to make up his mind which way he wants to go in life.

“I’m a journalist by vocation,” he told Broadcasting and Cable magazine. “I’m coming back to ‘Crossfire’ as a journalist. All political activity has ended for me.”

At least for right now.

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The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Fred Davis Washington State University