The New Yorker Mocks CNN's Pathetic Attempt at a Podcast Makeover

[pjcomix]

CNN, in a laughable attempt to boost its ratings, has attempted to dress up a couple of its broadcasts in podcast trappings -- based on the misguided notion that viewers will be attracted to the new form rather than the losing substance of what journalists such as Jake Tapper and Anderson Cooper are saying. As an inevitable result, such a desperate move has been the object of widespread mockery. What is interesting is this mockery is not only coming from the right but even from left leaning media such as the New Yorker.

Jay Caspian Kang who is himself a podcaster with the Time to Say Goodbye podcast turned his professional eye on the CNN effort via the New Yorker on Tuesday with "CNN’s 'Podcast Look' and the Slow Death of Cable News." Despite any political sympathy that Kang might feel for CNN, his professional podcaster side couldn't help but laugh at what that desperate network is doing:

https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/pj-gladnick/2026/03/25/new-yorker-mocks-cnns-pathetic-attempt-podcast-makeover

[Cyber Liberty]

FTA:

The problem with all these projects is an old and recurring one: you can’t dress up like a revolutionary when you’re the reason that the revolution is kicking off.

...and there you have it!

[PeteS in CA]

I can wear the tech T-shirt, shorts, Headsweats hat, Injinji socks, and $200 Hoka running shoes of an ultra-marathon runner, but I'd still be an old guy who walks 5Ks and 10Ks. But unlike CNN talking heads, I don't pretend to be something I'm not hoping to look cool. What I actually do wear is a mix of what comes to hand (the shirts and shorts) and what is necessary (the hat, blister-resistant socks, and lower-range New Balance shoes). Similarly, podcast viewers don't watch for the stuff on the desk or the knick-knacks of the shelves behind the podcaster they watch and listen for the content. In my case, I find Jon Parshall's tropical shirts and the 1980s floral wallpaper behind him when he does the "Unauthorized History of the Pacific War Podcast" mildly amusing (Seth Paridon's office is more business-boring), but I listen every week for the content.

Whether standing behind some sort of speaker's podium or seated at a kitsch-filled desk, Anderson Cooper's content is still Anderson Cooper's content. If people are declining to watch/listen to him, the packaging won't change what people choose.

[Cyber Liberty]

I can wear the tech T-shirt, shorts, Headsweats hat, Injinji socks, and $200 Hoka running shoes of an ultra-marathon runner, but I'd still be an old guy who walks 5Ks and 10Ks. But unlike CNN talking heads, I don't pretend to be something I'm not hoping to look cool. What I actually do wear is a mix of what comes to hand (the shirts and shorts) and what is necessary (the hat, blister-resistant socks, and lower-range New Balance shoes). Similarly, podcast viewers don't watch for the stuff on the desk or the knick-knacks of the shelves behind the podcaster they watch and listen for the content. In my case, I find Jon Parshall's tropical shirts and the 1980s floral wallpaper behind him when he does the "Unauthorized History of the Pacific War Podcast" mildly amusing (Seth Paridon's office is more business-boring), but I listen every week for the content.

Whether standing behind some sort of speaker's podium or seated at a kitsch-filled desk, Anderson Cooper's content is still Anderson Cooper's content. If people are declining to watch/listen to him, the packaging won't change what people choose.

Except they'll know it's probably not "live."