and CNN wants his ratings. The channel that invented cable news is that desperate as it fades in the face of competition. Seacrest has sat in for King and last year King said he was 'a natural' to replace him.

It will be a giant step in the castration of American journalism. The Bush years have already seen reporters reduced to patsies by Washington's

'embedding' and threats to refuse access. Failure to speak truth to power has crippled media credibility. Just when America needs its Jeremy Paxman it is poised to get its Vernon Kay.

Seacrest makes Larry King (left), whose journalistic signature is the soft-ball question, look heavyweight. His laid-back style, even avoiding research before the interview, at least gets the reluctant before the camera. In 51 years he has interviewed 40,000 people. They include every president since Gerald Ford, Tony Blair, Frank Sinatra, Yasser Arafat and Monica Lewinsky. His 'debate' between Al Gore and maverick presidential candidate Ross Perot scored the highest cable rating ever. He casts a giant shadow.

King himself said this of