Award-winning CNN anchor Kristie Lu Stout explained this in her keynote address on Tuesday (April 14) the second and last day of Media Congress 2015 of the Media Specialists Association of the Philippines at the Newport Performing Arts Theater in Resorts World Manila.
As early as four years ago, she said, CNN realized that its audiences was able to make first contact with it through its online platforms.
“We have to be where the audience is,” Stout said.
The veteran journalist said the rapid growth of mobile online platforms compelled the company to find unconventional ways to reach audiences.
She cited, for example, how the upcoming Apple Watch could make it challenging for media companies like CNN to write shorter content to fit the small screen of the device.
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Despite CNN’s roots in the U.S., Stout said that the company expanded to serve audiences around the world. According to the figures she presented, CNN now reaches about two billion people.
Asian audiences, in particular, are of importance to the news agency. She said that the segment is increasingly using mobile media.
Stout also stressed the importance of cohesion between CNN’s broadcast and digital teams.
She recalled her dispatch to the Philippines in the wake of Typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan).
While the broadcast team and other correspondents were in the field, Stout said the online team was also writing articles and gathering information from behind the screen.
Stout said that CNN had given its broadcast journalists the chance to create web content.
And, of course, there’s also the importance of social media.
She said she has been using Twitter to engage with the audience and contact sources for her stories.
Photo gallery: Media Congress 2015 (Day 1)
(CNN Philippines) — CNN International is no longer just a television company but a multiplatform news organization.
