What’s new about CNN Business this year, and which part of the refresh do you think subscribers will be most excited about?
Where to start! Okay, people first: We’re hiring! Rachel Siegel joined us from the Washington Post to examine how economic policy is shaping American life. Kyla Scanlon joined us as a contributor and analyst. She is one of the most exciting creators in this space, and we’re thrilled to bring her unique storytelling style to our audience. We’re expanding in tech and AI. Jacob Ward, a tech and science communicator extraordinaire, also joined us as a contributor. And we’re looking to partner with others.
We’re expanding in video and experimenting with formats. We’re looking at the big swings we can take that line up with our audiences’ interests. Have a look at Phil Mattingly’s superb Priced Out series, which takes viewers to four American cities to examine the economy’s structural weak spots. Phil and team very intentionally designed the series to work across our platforms and beyond, reaching audiences where they are, in the formats they prefer.
Why is now the right time to refresh CNN Business?
AI agents are going rogue and hacking real companies. A war in Iran has scrambled the global energy market. The US economy is awesome or terrible, depending on how you look at it. People are bombarded with a constant stream of confusing and sometimes contradictory headlines about complex topics. There’s a real need for rich, sophisticated, comprehensive business journalism that helps people make sense of the world.
What new original programming and storytelling can audiences look forward to?
We’ve got so much good stuff cooking. We’re hard at work on Season 2 of The 1 on 1, our series that pairs business leaders for thoughtful conversations about leadership and the moments that shaped them. We’re looking to build on Priced Out as we head into the midterms. We’re leaning hard into explanatory video with the excellent CNN Explains team and with some new formats we’re just starting to test. We’re continuing to experiment with livestreams. Phil Mattingly and crew are back with more episodes of CNN Breaks it Down, a weekly All Access livestream that features CNN journalists explaining the biggest stories in business and politics. We’re also experimenting with new TV formats. Dave Goldman is having so much fun with his Make it Make Sense segments that it’s honestly impossible to stop watching.
How will CNN Business make complex stories easy to understand while maintaining depth and rigor?
This is honestly the whole game for us. CNN’s audience is huge. It’s employers and workers, shoppers and diners. They’re the local powerbrokers who shape their hometowns. It’s the cashier at the grocery store you stop at on the way home. They drive the global economy with their spending, saving, investing and borrowing. It’s our job to help them understand the complex business, tech and economic stories of the day. We take that very seriously.
How do we do it? The answer is simple. We start with a question: “What does the audience need from me today?” The answer guides how we approach the storytelling. Are we trying to help people understand something complex like, say, open versus closed AI models? Well, then the audience needs us to make sure we understand it so well that we can explain it simply and clearly. That’s just one example, of course. There are thousands more. But I’m confident that if we start by asking “what does the audience need?” we can balance those priorities.
Comments
Post a Comment