Cable News Network senior White House correspondent John King said he signed
a multiyear contract extension with the network Monday.
King said his core job would remain covering the White House, but he will try
other things at the network, and he could possibly get his own show.
'Covering the White House -- I don't mean this as bull -- is a high honor. At
the same time, I want to develop some skills in other areas and just do some
other things to make the day-to-day job more interesting,' King said. 'Whether
that's a show, or more interview segments, or maybe long pieces that are part of
other shows -- we're just starting to talk about all of that.'
King -- who worked as a correspondent for the Associated Press for more than
one decade before joining CNN in 1997 -- said he 'had conversations' with
competing networks before renewing with CNN. While he acknowledged that he has
had some differences with the network in the past, he said he remains attracted
to CNN's focus on breaking news.
'I'm a wire guy. I like hard breaking news. I like politics. I like covering
politics in a language that is understandable to people out in the real world,'
King said.
In moves at CNN's all-news competition, MSNBC plans a big shuffle in its
primetime schedule effective July 9.
Newsfront with Lester Holt and Ashleigh Banfield will move from 7 p.m. to
5 p.m. and be replaced by Hardball with Chris Matthews, which has been
running at 8 p.m.
The network is also canceling Barnicle, the interview show hosted by
New York Daily News columnist Mike Barnicle, which is running at 6 p.m.
An MSNBC spokesman said it was too expensive to continue producing Barnicle's
Boston-based show in a leased studio, and he declined an offer to shoot the
program at the network's headquarters in Secaucus, N.J.
Barnicle will continue to contribute to Hardball and to The News
with Brian Williams, which will move from 9 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The network's MSNBC Investigates tabloid show will move from 8 p.m. to
9 p.m., leading into Headliners and Legends at 10 p.m.
MSNBC Investigates will also run in the 6 p.m. slot this summer, but it
will be replaced with a new program in September, a spokesman
said.
