CNN announced yesterday that it is cancelling its long-running political debate show, "Crossfire." As part of the cancellation, the news network is saying goodbye to commentator Tucker Carlson, who is negotiating with MSNBC to host a new show for that network. CNN's new president, Jonathan Klein, explained the changes to reporter Bill Carter in Thursday's "New York Times":

Mr. Klein said, CNN wants to do "roll-up-your-sleeves storytelling," and he said that was not a role he saw for Mr. Carlson. "There are outlets for the kind of show Tucker wants to do and CNN isn't going to be one of them," he said.

Mr. Klein said he wanted to move CNN away from what he called "head-butting debate shows," which have become the staple of much of all-news television in the prime-time hours, especially at the top-rated Fox News Channel.

"CNN is a different animal," Mr. Klein said. "We report the news. Fox talks about the news. They're very good at what they do and we're very good at what we do."

Klein even stated that Jon Stewart's recent criticism of "Crossfire," and Carlson in particular, was on the mark:

Mr. Klein said last night, "I agree wholeheartedly with Jon Stewart's overall premise." He said he believed that especially after the terror attacks on 9/11, viewers are interested in information, not opinion.

I'm really torn on this one. After all, I agree with everything Stewart had to say about the partisan bickering that's the norm on "Crossfire." But try to think of this from the perspective of CNN's employees. Essentially, Klein has just informed his staff that if a comedian from another network calls one of them a "dick" on national television, not only will he not defend his own employees, he might just fire them. And then he'll tell a "New York Times" reporter that he, too, thinks they're a dick (though he'll say "overall premise" instead of "dick").

Klein sounds like a real gem of a boss.

[NYTimes.com] CNN Will Cancel 'Crossfire' and Cut Ties to Commentator