A former CNN producer ponders the past and looks to the future.
The CNN logo was airlifted off the old HQ last week symbolizing the end of an era.
The big red CNN letters outside the Atlanta headquarters symbolized all that was great about journalism and cable news, not just in the U.S. but around the world.
When employees posed for the traditional “new job” picture in front of the letters, they stood for new beginnings. The letters represented more than a brand to those that worked there. The tall red structure was a constant reminder for the journalists inside to seek the truth while working tirelessly during heart wrenching breaking news events.
For nearly 12 years I worked at CNN in Atlanta across three channels - domestic, international, and HLN. I loved my career there. I remember taking my daughter to visit the big red letters after she was born. I stopped to look at them on the way to cover the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando with anchor Fredricka Whitfield. I also remember walking by the letters as I rushed into the office to craft one of the first specials with Wolf Blitzer on COVID-19 in 2020. I stood and stared at them when I finally landed my dream role, working on “Reliable Sources” with Brian Stelter. I felt so proud to be at CNN.
However, while the letters came to symbolize our mission hard work and dedication - a time when cable news was followed religiously - those letters took on a new meaning this past week.
I saw images of the tourist attraction moving from outside the CNN Center, where it had stood since 1987, to the discrete Techwood campus and I read the headlines about the, “iconic sign” and the description of it being the, “end of an era.” It was.
The days of 24/7 consumption of cable news and lines forming at newspaper stands are both as dead as phones on the wall. My former colleague, Marylynn Ryan, now the VP of news at Georgia Public Broadcasting signaled the harbinger of change. “Streaming is king now,” she told me in an interview.
Ryan had gathered the great CNN alumni group in June last year for a photograph. The CNN Center was sold in 2021 and staff were moving to a new location. “For me those red letters symbolized 25 years of my life as a journalist, working alongside many of Ted Turner’s CNN originals.” She shared, “our hearts and souls were in it. It was more than a job. We spent more time in the CNN Center newsrooms and control rooms than we did with our families. We became a family.”
Ryan was at the helm when CNN had to go into the flooded New Orleans area after Hurricane Katrina and treat it as if it was a war zone. She had to buy a boat and find power, “It taught us so much about the logistics of disaster in the US.”
Former CNN Senior Producer, Katie Baratone Zwerk, who now works as the Regional Communications Director for the American Red Cross of Georgia, had similar recollections. “Those three letters were more than just a sign, they were a landmark and a symbol seen around the world. It was also the entrance to a home. A home where countless journalists strived to shed light on all sides of a story. I was honored to be a part of those iconic letters and that symbol of journalism and even though the sign has moved, the heart of those journalists will always remain.”
I watched the global flag post lift into the air, not as an employee but an outsider. Times have changed. I saw the letters and thought of the cloud, streaming, social media, and AI. What were once the pillars of strength and reassurance through the election of 2016 now looked old and tired. They looked how I felt: sad.
I was laid off from CNN following the cancellation of “Reliable Sources.” It stung. For more than a decade I lived on little sleep, gave up holidays, and time with my family. I poured my heart into my roles and built a CNN family.
When I saw the letters hanging from a small crane, I realized that maybe this is a good timely visual. With change comes healing. CNN needs change too. It needs to reach cord cutters. After I was laid off, I cut the cord too. Ten years ago 100 million households paid for cable-TV service, now it’s less than half that number.
I spent a year avoiding the news. I didn’t watch cable, I didn’t read the news. I only relied on my social media feeds for information. I only looked for news to produce The Media Mix podcast. I learned about news stories when the algorithm wanted me to.
I realized that this is how so many people outside that building have been living. For the past few months I have slowly been reintroducing the news into my life. I started with newspapers and asked my Amazon voice assistant Alexa for the headlines. Then I began following news accounts on social media again. Surprisingly, I still rarely saw the news in my feed. The social media giants are downplaying journalism.
Having worked so hard in that newsroom in Atlanta, I didn’t realize just how disconnected people could be from our industry. It took cutting the cord and a news detox to really see.
As an outsider reintroducing myself to the news as a cord cutter, the letters I now see in the corner of my screen are the bright blue word “MAX,” which is the flag post for CNN now. Is CNN thriving as part of the streaming world? It’s hard to say. There aren’t any numbers shared publicly but I’m hopeful that its digital future will be as bright as the traditional TV path it lit for all those years.
BIOGRAPHY: Jamie Maglietta is a broadcast news veteran with experience across CNN, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC. She worked as the Senior Producer of CNN’s “Reliable Sources” with Brian Stelter and was most recently freelancing at Paramount’s BET. Jamie is owner of (ON CAM) Ready, offering production and media training services. She can be reached at jamie@oncamready.com