Interview: Chris Cramer, CNN (Evening Standard)
By David Rowan
CHRIS Cramer, the man responsible for all CNN's activities outside the United States, is in London 'to cheer up the troops'. Not that they're down - the network was first with the story on 11 September, and has since beaten all audience and website records. It's just that, well, this general is preparing for the long fight, and so has flown over from Atlanta to brief the ranks. 'This is not going to be a short conflict,' he says, 'but we will do all it takes.'
Three weeks on, that open-ended commitment is giving the accountants heartburn, coming amid a contraction that has cost CNN hundreds of jobs this year. But Cramer knows that a story like this defines America's biggest news operation. 'This is beyond anything any of us has ever seen before,' he says. 'You can't compare it with the Gulf War.' That was when CNN, then reaching 15 million households, made its name.
Today, 160 million homes have access to the network. CNN claims to have reached 100 million Americans on 11 September. Not forgetting the 337 million pages of CNN.com viewed the following day, up from about 14 million.
Cramer, who moved from Ealing five years ago to become president of CNN International Networks, knows that the challenge lies in retaining these viewers. But things have changed, he says. The age of trivia has suddenly been supplanted by a new era of questioning - and most US broadcasters, and newspapers are ill-equipped to explain the outside world.
'This is a wakeup call for most of the US media,' he says. 'They have now got to ask themselves if the abandonment of international news was the right way to go. I'm convinced they will change.' In Britain, too, much of the media 'has been preoccupied with lifestyle, Lottery stories, Posh Spice - when there's been a reality out there all along.'
His own network will drop some 'froth' in favour of greater foreign analysis. This marks a change from the ratings fixation provoked by competition from Fox News - a change spelled out last week by CNN's new chairman, Walter Isaacson, who said that the crisis had let the network find its mission: 'To be reasoned and calm and to cover international news in a serious way.'
In Europe, insists Cramer, CNN is not burdened by the need to chase ratings ruthlessly. 'Ratings kill TV news. 'Broadcasters must understand that success can't be judged by the bottom line alone. It's no surprise that most serious media brands now have a 24-hour news station - it adds dignity. The return on investment isn't just money; it's brand reputation.'
Yet for how long can CNN, with 4,000 staff in 42 international bureaux, afford an open-ended war? 'Gerry Levin, the chief executive of AOL Time Warner, was in Atlanta two weeks ago, and made it clear that he expected us to be in this for the long run,' Cramer says. 'It's critical - if a media brand can't cover this type of thing, it shouldn't be in business.'
HE will not say exactly how much the crisis is costing - it's a 'competitive issue' - but the network spent Dollars 1 million covering the initial attacks. It now has 300 people directly on the story in 22 places outside the US - and even before the crisis, it was planning to spend almost Dollars 700 million this year on newsgathering, far more than its rivals. Yet the extra pressures come amid much belt-tightening. In January, CNN cut 400 jobs, a tenth of its workforce. (London, with 150 staff, escaped the worst.) Then, in May, its web division cut more.
Meanwhile, in an already weak market, airline and tourism advertisers fled from the post-attack TV slots. Advertisers have mostly returned, Cramer says, yet he is clearly grateful also to have subscription, broadcast sales and sponsorship revenues. Does the TV ad downturn depress him?
'Well, I wish it wasn't so,' he says. 'It's something that we have to work with. But I'm not just selling TV - I'm selling integrated media.'
He admits that CNN overinvested in the net ('in good company'), a medium that 'defies business logic'. But CNN.com remains core. He believes it will eventually pay its way through subscription.
Cramer says that CNN has neither censored its recent output, nor yet felt any US government pressure to influence it. Back when he worked at the BBC - he rose in a 25-year career to be head of newsgathering - he learned the British way of shaping the news. 'I remember the total paranoia during the Falklands conflict - we had MoD censors inside the cutting room at TV Centre. It was surreal. We're an awful long way from that in America.'
So what of that other threat to journalistic integrity: pressures on how CNN covers the vast media interests of its parent company, AOL Time Warner?
Cramer dismisses the suggestion. 'Are we sensitive to its international media businesses? The question doesn't arise,' he says. 'I felt more hot breath on the back of my neck at the BBC than I ever have at CNN.'
(Evening Standard, October 3 2001)
CHRIS Cramer, the man responsible for all CNN's activities outside the United States, is in London 'to cheer up the troops'. Not that they're down - the network was first with the story on 11 September, and has since beaten all audience and website records. It's just that, well, this general is preparing for the long fight, and so has flown over from Atlanta to brief the ranks. 'This is not going to be a short conflict,' he says, 'but we will do all it takes.'
Three weeks on, that open-ended commitment is giving the accountants heartburn, coming amid a contraction that has cost CNN hundreds of jobs this year. But Cramer knows that a story like this defines America's biggest news operation. 'This is beyond anything any of us has ever seen before,' he says. 'You can't compare it with the Gulf War.' That was when CNN, then reaching 15 million households, made its name.
Today, 160 million homes have access to the network. CNN claims to have reached 100 million Americans on 11 September. Not forgetting the 337 million pages of CNN.com viewed the following day, up from about 14 million.
Cramer, who moved from Ealing five years ago to become president of CNN International Networks, knows that the challenge lies in retaining these viewers. But things have changed, he says. The age of trivia has suddenly been supplanted by a new era of questioning - and most US broadcasters, and newspapers are ill-equipped to explain the outside world.
'This is a wakeup call for most of the US media,' he says. 'They have now got to ask themselves if the abandonment of international news was the right way to go. I'm convinced they will change.' In Britain, too, much of the media 'has been preoccupied with lifestyle, Lottery stories, Posh Spice - when there's been a reality out there all along.'
His own network will drop some 'froth' in favour of greater foreign analysis. This marks a change from the ratings fixation provoked by competition from Fox News - a change spelled out last week by CNN's new chairman, Walter Isaacson, who said that the crisis had let the network find its mission: 'To be reasoned and calm and to cover international news in a serious way.'
In Europe, insists Cramer, CNN is not burdened by the need to chase ratings ruthlessly. 'Ratings kill TV news. 'Broadcasters must understand that success can't be judged by the bottom line alone. It's no surprise that most serious media brands now have a 24-hour news station - it adds dignity. The return on investment isn't just money; it's brand reputation.'
Yet for how long can CNN, with 4,000 staff in 42 international bureaux, afford an open-ended war? 'Gerry Levin, the chief executive of AOL Time Warner, was in Atlanta two weeks ago, and made it clear that he expected us to be in this for the long run,' Cramer says. 'It's critical - if a media brand can't cover this type of thing, it shouldn't be in business.'
HE will not say exactly how much the crisis is costing - it's a 'competitive issue' - but the network spent Dollars 1 million covering the initial attacks. It now has 300 people directly on the story in 22 places outside the US - and even before the crisis, it was planning to spend almost Dollars 700 million this year on newsgathering, far more than its rivals. Yet the extra pressures come amid much belt-tightening. In January, CNN cut 400 jobs, a tenth of its workforce. (London, with 150 staff, escaped the worst.) Then, in May, its web division cut more.
Meanwhile, in an already weak market, airline and tourism advertisers fled from the post-attack TV slots. Advertisers have mostly returned, Cramer says, yet he is clearly grateful also to have subscription, broadcast sales and sponsorship revenues. Does the TV ad downturn depress him?
'Well, I wish it wasn't so,' he says. 'It's something that we have to work with. But I'm not just selling TV - I'm selling integrated media.'
He admits that CNN overinvested in the net ('in good company'), a medium that 'defies business logic'. But CNN.com remains core. He believes it will eventually pay its way through subscription.
Cramer says that CNN has neither censored its recent output, nor yet felt any US government pressure to influence it. Back when he worked at the BBC - he rose in a 25-year career to be head of newsgathering - he learned the British way of shaping the news. 'I remember the total paranoia during the Falklands conflict - we had MoD censors inside the cutting room at TV Centre. It was surreal. We're an awful long way from that in America.'
So what of that other threat to journalistic integrity: pressures on how CNN covers the vast media interests of its parent company, AOL Time Warner?
Cramer dismisses the suggestion. 'Are we sensitive to its international media businesses? The question doesn't arise,' he says. 'I felt more hot breath on the back of my neck at the BBC than I ever have at CNN.'
(Evening Standard, October 3 2001)
posted by David Rowan at Wednesday, October 03, 2001
<< Home