CNN Plans To Stop Overusing ‘Breaking News’ As Banner Loses Its Meaning
In a company-wide memo issued by incoming Chief Executive Chris Licht, CNN employees were told to cut back on using its “breaking news” banner, with complaints from within and outside of the organization saying its meaning has “become lost on the audience.”
First reported by the New York Times, it appears Licht emphasized the role of the news channel as “truth-tellers,” and in the age of endless sensationalism, wants it to go back to its roots of “informing, not alarming” its viewers.
According to Axios, this move comes as the new management wants to prioritize dialing back on partisan angles to focus on traditional journalism.
To achieve this, Bureau Chief Sam Feist has been tasked with recreating the guidelines surrounding the news of “breaking news” in the company’s stylebook.
As Licht summed up, the 24-hour news channel must remain “vital, relevant, and respected”—and maybe the way to re-engage viewers is to stop overhyping everything that appears on screen.
[via Input and Axios, cover image via Sean Pavone | Dreamstime.com]
