Only the New York Post Published Lurid Details Of Richard Quest’s Arrest, But Those Were The Details That Splashed Globally, So Can The Popular CNN Personality Survive?

Philip Stone April 22, 2008

The reporting of embarrassing details that played no part in the drugs charges against CNN’s Richard Quest’s at the weekend is really sad, but it also points to the overwhelming global power of the Internet and how nasty it can really be at times.

The New York Times appeared first to break the story that Quest had been arrested for loitering in New York’s Central Park Friday at 3:43 a.m. because the park is closed between 1 a.m. to 6 a.m.. The newspaper reported on the subsequent find that Quest had methamphetamines in his pocket -- an amount small enough to count only as a misdemeanor instead of a far more serious felony that could result in serious jail time – and the quick deal worked out with the District Attorney’s office, accepted by the judge, that Quest would undergo therapy for six months and if he passed the course then the case would be sealed and not remain part of his record

That report with just those details got picked up by other media including news agencies and was relayed around the world. That’s pretty damaging in itself to the man’s career, but it gave him some hope of survivability because it was obvious the city considered it a medical matter more than criminal case and if Quest follows through then his criminal record will be cleared in six month

People may have wondered from those original reports what Quest was doing in the park at that hour, but his lawyer’s quote was widely disseminated – that he was just returning from a dinner with friends and he didn’t know the park was officially closed. What readers actually believed was their business.

And that would have been that except the New York Post then weighed in with its report that dished out the “dirt” surrounding the arrest, particularly what Quest was wearing under his clothes and how it was worn, and what he had hidden in one boot, information which, if true, was truly embarrassing but personal and there was no law broken. But it was those lurid details that media around the world then picked up on, seemingly with great glee, and yet as far as we could tell it was only the Post that had that information.

So an unverified report in just one newspaper got picked up all over the world via the Internet – most editors felt they played it safe by quoting the information came from The Post – and Quest  and CNN came in for some real nasty headlines  ranging from “Kinky News Network” to giving Quest “Enough Rope…”

Bluntly, it was really nasty, vindictive stuff, and, again, it all emanated from just one media source. And even as The Post pointed out, the lurid details it reported were not part of the arrest charges – there was no public lewdness. Think of it, a man condemned globally on an unverified report in one New York tabloid!

If that wasn’t bad enough the coup de grâce came when Drudge then linked to the Post’s report. It had first just linked to a straight agency report but when the Post’s report hit then Drudge was not far behind with its link. And with that notoriety Quest was well and truly cooked.

Quest is CNN International’s most visible personality.  CNN stole him away from the BBC – he had been through the BBC’s finishing school and worked his way up to business correspondent in New York, but it was obvious his quirky, almost hyper reporting style, could be put to far better use than at the staid Beeb. He started with CNN International co-anchoring the early morning news slot but after a while CNN gave him his own monthly half-hour feature program, “CNN Business Traveler” that saw him traveling the world with little time for his anchor duties, and he became CNN’s travel expert.

As he wrote in his blog last November, “And so I have arrived home after six weeks on the road. A trip that has taken me to North America, South East Asia, India, Europe and back again. The mileage is somewhere around 58,000 and I have been keeping close track to make sure those miles are credited.”

That show’s popularity – probably through pure force of personality -- got Quest a second monthly feature program – this one for an hour and called simply “Quest”. The subject matter varied but carried a theme of “I wish I could do that”  and he covered such topics as learning how to model, how to dance, how to do magic tricks, and in his most recent program  he interviewed women who have been honored in the UK as Dames – the female equivalent of a knighthood.

US viewers would see him on such stories as Queen Elizabeth’s US trip last year. There was the memorable Anderson Cooper 360 program at the end of the visit when Cooper in the studio interviewed Quest who was standing outside the British Embassy where the monarch was hosting President Bush to dinner.  Quest, particularly hyper that night with his arms flinging all over the place, ended his piece by having a butler pour him a glass of champagne and he then, in a toast to the camera, told Cooper who just could not stop laughing, “As Helen Mirren said when she received her Oscar for playing the Queen, I give you The Queen”. All very unorthodox. All very Richard Quest.

So what does CNN do about all this? Quest’s feature programs are big money earners. They are shown repeatedly over various weekends – the Business Traveler show also repeated during the week – and Quest is probably the most recognized face on CNN International. But given the drugs charges, given what the Post has written, is that what CNN International wants as its “face”?

There must be a raging battle going on inside CNN on that very subject – given today’s environment can you have someone who has a drugs arrest and who has accepted going to therapy be the face of your squeaky-clean organization? The judge may have given CNN a way out. Quest has to undergo therapy and report back in six months. If all goes well the judge will then seal the charges and Quest’s criminal record will be clean. So keep Quest off the air for the six months, support him with his treatment, and if the judge seals the record then back on air he can go.

This writer confesses to being a Quest fan, bombastic as he might be, if only because it is so different, in a quirky way, so natural. It should be said, however, that “She Who Must Be Obeyed” is also a fan but she is also very much of the opinion that CNN cannot allow Quest on-air any more in the given circumstances. “What kind of example is that to the children of the world,” she asks?

CNN has had four days to comment but hasn’t yet, and there are no new entries on Quest’s blog to give his side of the story. When China complained about what CNN personality Jack Cafferty had said about it on air last week a CNN spokesperson within a day quickly issued a clarification. Yet with Quest the silence is deafening. No doubt the internal debate continues.