CNN tried something different last week. It wasn’t a ratings blockbuster. It wasn’t a reinvention of the wheel. But it was a step — and in an industry that’s grown far too comfortable with its own reflection, that matters.
Jake Tapper hosted an episode of The Lead from his personal office. No gleaming studio. No polished set dressing. Just a host, his workspace covered in memorabilia from losing presidential campaigns, some temporary lights, and a camera.
Meanwhile, Anderson Cooper went a different direction — large microphones front and center, sleeves rolled up, no suit coat in sight. It had the feel of a podcast you’d actually want to listen to.
Both presentations raised eyebrows. Both also raised something more valuable: a conversation.
I’ve championed this kind of approach before. The YouTube and podcast generations haven’t just grown up alongside informal presentation styles — they’ve come to prefer them. Authenticity is the expectation, not a buzzword to those viewers. When a host sits across from a microphone in a relaxed setting, there’s an intimacy that a traditional anchor desk simply can’t replicate.
Cable news hasn’t always been quick to recognize that. The suits, the sets, the carefully lit backdrops — they signal authority, sure. They also signal distance. As more viewers migrate toward creators who look and sound like real people, the pressure on legacy outlets to adapt only grows. CNN’s experiment, however modest, acknowledges that pressure exists.
Now, let’s be honest. Will these new presentation styles trigger a ratings surge? Probably not. Viewers don’t flock back to a network because a host ditched his blazer. The problems facing CNN — and cable news broadly — run much deeper than set design. Trust, relevance, and the relentless competition from digital platforms aren’t fixed with a couple of microphones and a casual Friday vibe.
But that’s not really the point. The point is that CNN admitted it needs to try something different. That admission is harder than it sounds. Networks develop an institutional inertia that’s tough to shake. Formats calcify. Habits become gospel. Taking even a small step outside that comfort zone requires someone, somewhere in the building, to say “let’s see what happens.” That’s worth something.
Yes, the mockery came quickly. Social media had its fun — and look, some of it was fair. The execution wasn’t flawless. Cooper’s setup drew comparisons ranging from a true crime podcast to a late-night radio show, and not always charitably. Tapper’s office backdrop prompted questions that had nothing to do with the news he was covering.
Here’s the thing, though. Ridicule is the price of experimentation. Almost everything that eventually works looked awkward before it didn’t. The first time a network anchor threw to a correspondent on a shaky satellite feed, it probably looked amateurish. Now it’s standard. The first time a cable news show integrated social media, it was clunky. Now it’s expected.
I’ll give CNN credit for not letting the fear of mockery stop the experiment before it started. That spirit — the willingness to absorb some heat in pursuit of something better — is exactly what this industry needs more of. Denigrating it doesn’t serve anyone well.
When content becomes the focal point rather than presentation, viewers win. That’s the underlying truth here. A great interview conducted in a home office is more valuable than a mediocre one conducted in a $10 million studio. Stripping away the visual noise can actually force that content to carry more weight. It can work. It has worked elsewhere.
CNN’s got a long road ahead. One casual episode of The Lead and one podcast-style Cooper segment don’t rewrite the network’s trajectory. But they’re a start — and sometimes, taking that first step is the most difficult part of the journey. Give them a chance to find their footing before you demand they run.
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Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing daily news stories, features, and opinion columns. He joined Barrett Media in 2022 after a decade leading several radio brands in several formats, as well as a 5-year stint working in local television. In addition to his work with Barrett Media, he is a radio and TV play-by-play broadcaster. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
As an old guy, I remember watching the early months of CNN and loving the actual newsroom right behind the anchors. They were raised up a bit, and the ‘control room’ was actually an open area right below the stage, reminiscant of the orchestra pit at a live musical.
You could hear the cocaphony, the typewriters, and the urgent ‘beep’ from the Basys news computer system. And, while we couldn’t hear it on TV, prime time anchor Don Farmer could hear and kinda feel the booms from right above his head: the WTBS studio where they recorded NWA wrestling every other Wednesday. Those were the days when wrestling and the Braves kept CNN on the air.
In the year I worked at Techwood Avenue (1984-ish), the electricity in the room was expondentially greater than what I saw on TV.
When CNN moved downtown, you could see the pretty newsroom from far above, but you couldn’t really ‘feel’ the action any more. And of course, it all went away when all the domestic shows moved to DC or NYC.