Imagine a new, but irreversible global appetite for good bread.
What if McD––––’s corporate decided to shift from fast food to baguettes? Locations around the globe were to undergo a radical makeover – a shift toward fresh bread, maybe assorted pastries, in cities and the smallest of towns around the world, as both a cost-cutting initiative as well as a new commitment to the importance of demand for delicious, high-quality bread. Sparking immediate reaction from competitors and observers in the fast food business media, would McD____’s put experienced bakers in the C-suite? In charge of marketing and vertical integration? Or open their kitchens to the people who know how slap the dough?
“This is a moment where the digital story feels like an existential question,” Mr. Thompson said in an interview. “If we do not follow the audiences to the new platforms with real conviction and scale, our future prospects will not be good.”
Mr. Thompson has been spreading this message inside CNN during his first 15 months in the job. But now, he is taking the biggest steps yet to overhaul the company, steering it away from its reliance on traditional television and trying to cash in on digital audiences wherever they are, at the same time that President Trump has sent the news cycle into hyperdrive.
On Thursday, the company said that it would eliminate about 200 jobs focused on CNN’s traditional TV operations, and add about the same number for new digital roles like data scientists and product engineers. CNN is aiming to hire 100 of those people in the first half of the year, Mr. Thompson said.
CNN also previewed a new streaming service, similar to its TV product, that it will charge for. Mr. Thompson said that CNN would also release a new subscription product this year around “lifestyle” content — examples include food and fitness — though he didn’t specify what the product would be.
…
The push into vertical video illustrates some of the challenges that Mr. Thompson faces.
Speed is of the essence in digital publishing, where breaking news is only relevant for a few hours at a time. But getting those videos published has been slowed at times by CNN’s review process, known as the Triad, which used to include fact-checking and standards and legal vetting, according to two people familiar with the matter. Last year, Mr. Thompson moved fact-checking, formerly known as the Row, into a new unit called CNN Fact Check that works closer with editors and producers earlier in the story-generation process. CNN still maintains teams dedicated to legal and standards reviews.
Mr. Thompson and Ms. MacCallum have recruited several executives to overhaul CNN’s digital operations. Some were former co-workers of Mr. Thompson or Ms. MacCallum at The New York Times, including Ben French, who helped launch The Times’s cooking app, and Ben Monnie, who worked on subscription pricing and bundling.
Whether it’s baking baguettes or becoming using TikTok, there are people who know how to do these things. Also the news cycle doesn’t passively ‘get sent into hyperdrive’.
What business are they in again?
Image: Mmmmmm