The Breaking News At Cnn Is That Entertainment Is In

Sydney Morning Herald

Wednesday August 8, 2001

Gay Alcorn, Herald Correspondent, in Washington, llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

The stalwart of cable news, CNN, has revamped one of its channels as a hip, happening, pacy broadcaster with young celebrity anchors and so much information flashing on the screen that some wonder if it will confuse, rather than enlighten, viewers.

CNN was founded 21 years ago by Ted Turner, who insisted that news would be the star. The relaunch of Headline News this week turned that rule on its head, with Andrea Thompson, formerly of the TV drama NYPD Blue, one of up to six anchors on the set at any one time.

The hiring of Thompson, who does not claim to be a seasoned journalist, is an implicit surrender to what other television networks have argued for years that audiences like their news mixed with entertainment.

CNN was supposed to be different, but its dominance in its field has been threatened by MSNBC and particularly Mr Rupert Murdoch's Fox News Channel, an in-your-face conservative network with opinionated hosts. Leading Republicans constantly attack CNN for alleged left-wing bias, and pointedly favour the Murdoch channel.

CNN strongly denies bias, but its new chairman, Mr Walter Isaacson, reportedly visited senior Republican figures last week to ask them how to attract more conservative viewers.

More viewers of any political stripe would help. The average audience for Headline News, a breaking news channel, is 170,000 at any one time, down from 219,000 five years ago. Its sister channel, CNN, which has more talk and analysis, attracts 319,000 viewers. Overall, cable news channels are still a niche industry in the United States, watched in 5million out of 100million homes switched to television each night.

The motto that flashed on Headline News screens on Monday was ``Real News Real Fast", and fast it was. Factoids beeped away at the bottom of the screen, along with the weather, stock market reports and headlines such as Enjoy your flight Not!, about an airline that sent unaccompanied children to the wrong destination. The newsreader took up only a quarter of the screen, and techno and rock music blared away between news segments.

The aim, says its news chief, Teya Ryan, is not just ratings; it is to attract the younger viewer demanded by advertisers. The average viewer of Headline News is 54 years old, against 64 for CNN generally, and even 30-somethings and 40-somethings would be an improvement.

Ryan says the flashy graphics and fast-paced news are designed for time warriors who juggle work and family, have short attention spans and want their information quickly.

The network is also spending much more time on entertainment and lifestyle segments, reflecting a view that younger people are less interested in politics and foreign affairs, traditional fare for CNN.

While Americans tune to CNN for big events such as wars and elections, they quickly fade away when there is no crisis story.