Once giving news alerts, or ‘snaps’, was Mark Thompson’s way of life, but today the challenge before the International Managing Editor of CNNMoney is how to make a news break into a digital platform.

Thompson agrees that the news landscape has transformed but adds that “just because something has popped up on Twitter, it wouldn’t have a making of news… it might just be a few seconds’ attraction. This is where the journalistic values of the organisation came in”.

BusinessLine caught up with Thompson, during his quick trip to New Delhi, where he had come to assess the CNNMoney team. Come November, CNNMoney will launch the India sub-section on CNNMoney page.

An advocate of the integrated news room, Thompson, who joined CNN in 2012, says, “The challenge is to demystify the news, explain without talking down, and make a local story appealing for global audience, with attractive and powerful visuals.”

Ask Thompson why this renewed interest in India and how will a local story from here become attractive for audience in the US, he says, “We will take up issues. For example, Goods and Services Tax (GST), is a big tax reform India is proposing. Now, CNNMoney story will not exactly say what are the varied rates but talk about what it means for Indian economy and how will it impact foreign investment.”

Thompson is clear that his audience is not just a trader or someone who is playing in the equities market but also senior corporate honchos and youth who want to know the finer details.

On why India has become important, he said CNNMoney attracts 1.8 million average monthly page views from India, he says, adding that there has been a 37 per cent growth in monthly video stats and a 16 per cent growth in monthly unique browsers since February 2016.

Besides, in terms of audience demographics 36 years is the average age of CNNMoney audiences in India, and 58 per cent of CNNMoney audience describe their investment profile as aggressive.

“The local stories from India, which CNNMoney could look at is the emerging young entrepreneurs. How is the corporate space changing, and the risk appetite,” he says.

While the mobile app — CNN MoneyStream — which offers customer preference model or personalised app is one component of expanding the reach, integrating the broadcast newsroom with the digital team is another, he pointed out.

“Integration has to happen at two points – integrating broadcast and digital news room as well as integration of CNNMoney team which is spread across the globe,” he said, adding “joining the dots is critical to how do we bring all together and give a big picture.”

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