What has been the strategy for CNN’s growth in this region?
Ellana: Asia-Pacific is an incredibly important market for us at CNN. We’ve dedicated enormous newsgathering resources to this part of the world. We have a production centre in Hong Kong, plus bureaux in Seoul, Tokyo, Beijing, Mumbai, Delhi, Bangkok, Jakarta, Kabul and Islamabad. We have strong leadership in place in this part of the world because we know how important it is. In fact, last month we further strengthened our newsgathering and feature programme capabilities announcing several key strategic positions. Hong Kong has been bolstered with a new bureau chief and four new producers, while Beijing received a new bureau chief and international correspondent. We produce key feature and news programmes from our Hong Kong hub, including Talk Asia, On China, and News Stream.
Our audience in television and digital is vast, loyal and growing. The latest IPSOS survey was clear that the viewership and brand strength of CNN among international news organisations remains unparalleled across the region. We have no intention of letting that go.
Looking ahead 12 months, what growth opportunities do you see for CNN- further expansion into new territories, more newsy segments, new genres etc.
Ellana: CNN was the original disruptor. We were in the cable news business before anybody else, we were in the digital and mobile space very early. I think that’s given CNN a competitive advantage and a pioneering mind-set. But of course, the biggest threat is complacency.
We must move with our audience and embrace the new ways that people consume news and information. We live in an age where people get their news in a wider variety of ways than ever. The way people consume news and information today is different than it was even 18 months ago, let alone 30 years ago when CNN International was launched.
Our strategy is to be on all screens, all the time. CNN is platform neutral: we’re on TV, digital, mobile; but it’s also important to remember that those platforms are not mutually exclusive. CNN has adopted a digitalfirst approach to the way we break news and tell stories, and digital is the pulse that goes to the very core of our business. But you only have to look at the way people invest money in television sets to see that TV is also alive and well – it is just changing. What is important is to change with it. We must be wherever our audience wants us.
How is breaking news on traditional media still relevant with the proliferation of social media?
Ellana: As journalists, social media is extremely exciting but we have to be wary about how we use it. Social media is no substitute for professional journalism. The problem with social media is that it rarely shows more than one aspect of a story. At its worst, it is disingenuous and even dangerous.
And this brings me back to what proper journalism is about. Proper journalism is about looking at as many sources as possible – including social media – to get as full a picture as possible. And that’s where the skill, training and professionalism of our editorial team comes in. When it comes to social media and citizen journalism, the biggest part of our job is to check, check and check again, as we verify and corroborate the snippets of information, the pictures, the videos, the claims and counterclaims that appear on social media. That is difficult, timeconsuming, but extremely important.
Ultimately, it’s CNN’s unwavering dedication to delivering quality journalism in an unbiased, fair and in-depth manner that enables the brand to continue to be relevant and important to consumers, especially in an age when anyone with a smartphone can try to be a journalist. We also embrace social media for outreach too. At CNN, this forms an important part of the way we engage with our audience. We have an entire social media team dedicated to just that, bound by the same high editorial standards as every other part of our operation.
The bottom line is, while these social media platforms have proven to be great tools for journalists, they do not replace the kind of quality journalism CNN provides to people around the world every single day. In fact, you will often hear people say that they will hear something on social media, and then go to CNN to see if it’s true – and that’s something we must work hard to preserve and never take for granted. The most vital commodity for a news organisation is trust.
What is CNN’s advantage over its competitors in bringing news to the people?
Ellana: CNN has major production hubs in Atlanta, New York, London, Abu Dhabi, and Hong Kong plus a further 41 editorial offices and an additional 1100 affiliates around the world. That’s a very wide global footprint, meaning we can be wherever news breaks.
As we celebrate CNN International’s 30th anniversary, we can absolutely say that CNN remains the world’s news leader. If you’re looking at pure numbers, CNN is available across all major TV, internet and mobile platforms, reaching more than 395 million households around the globe, including over 56 million across the Asia-Pacific region.
But it’s not just about the numbers – our journalism continues to be recognised for its quality. Most recently CNN was named the Asian Television Award Cable & Satellite Network and Channel of the Year, and we were also the Royal Television Society News Channel of the Year in 2012 and again in 2013.
The other important thing to remember is CNN’s strength on digital platforms. CNN Digital is gaining strength all the time, and is a go-to network for online news, mobile news and social media around the world. In fact the CNN network is stronger than ever, with a wider audience than at any point in our history. But in spite of all of that it’s important not to rest on our laurels, and it’s vital that we continue innovating, evolving and staying ahead of the curve.
