Will Condit interview revive Chung’s career

Media and political analysts are expressing skepticism that Connie Chung‘s interview with Congressman Gary Condit, set for ABC’s PrimeTime Thursday this week, will produce anything more substantial than what Geraldo Rivera turned up when he opened Al Capone‘s safe. Most agreed, however, that Chung has a lot riding on it. Alex Jones, director of the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University, told today’s (Wednesday) New York Daily News. “She’ll either distinguish herself or embarrass herself with this prime-time opportunity.” Today’s Boston Globe, in a report about the interview, observed: “For Chung, the coup she pulled off in winning the derby to interrogate the elusive Condit may resurrect a flagging career that never recovered from her removal as Dan Rather‘s coanchor on the CBS Evening News in 1995.” The Globe article quoted media analyst Ellen Hume as saying, “I would be shocked if this interview produced anything.” But Jon Keller, the longtime host of a local political talk show on Boston’s WLVI, a WB affiliate, had this advice for Condit: “Blubber and beg forgiveness. … And save something for Oprah. Don’t give it all to Connie Chung.”