What does the CNN revamp mean for journalism in the Trump era?
CNN has figured out that future success — perhaps even survival — hinges on whether the network can reinvent itself in a rapidly changing journalism environment. The once-proud news outlet is suffering from declining ratings and a tarnished overall brand image. The CNN brass has announced plans to shake things up, hoping to maintain a touch of relevance in the news industry.
The fact that CNN needs a major overhaul reflects the concern that its reputation has cratered in recent years. Compared to just four years ago, CNN has lost 58 percent of its total day audience. Beyond the ratings problems, there is a general sense that CNN is no longer a key player in the overall agenda-setting journalistic marketplace.
The reset is also a response to the changing environment, in which consumers get their news from more places and through more platforms than in the past. Few news consumers these days are willing to sit in a living room chair to watch CNN content on television, or even idly scroll the CNN website. CNN’s problems are shared to some degree by most establishment news outlets, but CNN seems to be suffering disproportionately.
CNN’s top executive, Mark Thompson, disclosed the revamp in a memo to employees last month. CNN plans a greater focus on streaming and the development of digital products. Thompson said the changes are a response “to profound and irreversible shifts in the way audiences in America and around the world consume news.” The schedule for the traditional CNN cable channel is also getting an overhaul, with veteran anchors Wolf Blitzer and Jake Tapper getting new time slots, among other changes.
Competing media outlets will certainly be monitoring the trajectory of a newfangled CNN. They, too, face a chaotic media world in which news consumers falsely think they can be adequately informed by following TikTok influencers, bombastic podcasters or various guys sitting at the end of the bar.
CNN’s descent into irrelevance has been underway for many years, but it accelerated during the reign of former CNN president Jeff Zucker, who oversaw the operation for nine years beginning in 2013. CNN proudly joined the Trump resistance in 2016, with network personalities such as prime-time host Don Lemon and White House reporter Jim Acosta relishing their roles as Trump antagonists. Left-of-center viewers were fine with that, but news consumers seeking more measured coverage became uneasy. It was one thing to see activist pundits on MSNBC and Fox News Channel in the evening prime time, but CNN’s bias play to the left resulted in lost prestige and poor ratings.
Any news outlet that is the subject of news is likely losing. That’s certainly the case for CNN these days. CNN lost a libel suit in January for its reporting about a Navy veteran in 2021. During the course of that trial, an economist for the plaintiff said that the net worth of CNN declined by almost half between 2021 and 2023.
In more bad news, Thompson has announced that up to 200 CNN employees will lose their jobs. Then Acosta departed CNN in a huff, after having his show rescheduled to late-night Siberia. That exit might not actually be bad news for CNN, given Acosta’s mercurial style, but it still suggests that instability reigns at CNN and keeps CNN in the headlines for the wrong reasons.
It will be interesting to see if Thompson can pull off this reinvention. One of his predecessors, Chris Licht, tried mightily to redirect CNN beginning in 2022. But he got the gate after only 13 months. That was largely because Licht tried to move CNN away from advocacy journalism and more toward the fact-based and centrist style that once made CNN “the most trusted name in news,” as James Earl Jones used to proclaim. CNN staffers rebelled against Licht, and his effort to redirect the channel got derailed from within.
Thompson is reportedly already guiding the channel’s anchors about how to manage partisan political topics on the air. Published reports indicate Thompson weighed in as Trump retook the White House, telling CNN reporters to avoid “pre-judging Trump,” and “coverage to relitigate the past.” That kind of pressure won’t sit well with the more activist journalist crowd at CNN.
The nation could benefit from a reinvigorated and trusted CNN. News consumers who have given up on the mainstream media might welcome a television outlet committed to their needs and interests, rather than the activist inclinations of smug reporters and editors. Thompson has a steep hill to climb, to be sure, but if he can get CNN up off the canvas, it will be a model for other outlets to consider.
Jeffrey M. McCall is a media critic and professor of communication at DePauw University. He has worked as a radio news director, a newspaper reporter and as a political media consultant.
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