Morse: Stations Have To Do Digital Differently

CNN’s top digital executive advised TV stations to apply original thinking to their digital content efforts, and not simply rely on the same old production methods to digital news that they have long relied on for broadcast.

“To me, the lesson for local TV is don’t be afraid and don’t be wedded to the way you’ve always done things,” said the exec, Andrew Morse, EVP, editorial/CNN Digital Worldwide, at TVNewsCheck’s NewTECHForum conference in New York on today.

Morse discussed digital content and the state of TV news in an on-stage interview conducted by TVNewsCheck Editor in Chief Harry A. Jessell.

His comments echoed those voiced by others at an earlier session who also counseled broadcast decisionmakers and newsroom leaders to produce digital news content with an eye primarily on the platforms and audiences for which the content is being designed.

This means not simply duplicating the style of traditional newscasts and news stories for content on digital platforms, various panelists said. Morse said there is plenty of talent out there who can be found locally who have the necessary skill sets to spearhead a local station’s digital efforts.

He said CNN itself had no problem finding as many as 270 new hires after parent company Turner made a recent investment of $20 million in new CNN digital production. “We’re finding this talent coming out of college, out of film schools, out of local media like other TV stations and even local newspapers,” he said.

The best employees for station digital staffs are those people capable of taking on multiple roles in the newsgathering and production process, Morse said. “I think every producer and all newspeople today have to be a Swiss army knife.”

Like other speakers at the NewsTECHForum’s first day (of two), Morse said the quality of the content is more important than the brand name behind it. For stations, this means not being beholden to labeling all content and ancillary platforms with station-specific wording and graphics. While this approach might run counter to local news instincts, the experts, including Morse, insist that millennials don’t care about specific media brands or, at the very least, they’re not necessarily looking for content branded with the name of a station.

In his job at CNN, Morse was at the center of CNN’s coverage of the presidential campaign and election. Jessell asked him what lessons, if any, CNN learned from this year’s campaigns.

“Always be dubious when someone tells you the outcome of a story before the story happens,” Morse answered, referring to the election’s hard-to-predict outcome.

Jessell pressed him to comment on the damage done to the credibility of mainstream media such as CNN by the bruising, partisan nature of the election. “Everybody is entitled to their own opinion,” Morse said, “but everybody is not entitled to their own facts. We need to get back to the facts.”
With his own advice in mind, he declined to “prejudge” President-elect Trump and what his presidency could mean for press freedom. “We shouldn’t prejudge that everything the president-elect is going to do will be bad,” he said.

To listen to a recording of this panel session, click here.

Read all about the NewsTECHForum here.