Latest / Breaking Media - Macht.Medien.Kompetenz / Sommergespräche: Independent journalism in the United States with Mark Thompson (English | 25.08.2026)

Transcript

Sommergespräche: Independent journalism in the United States with Mark Thompson (English | 25.08.2026) · Breaking Media - Macht.Medien.Kompetenz

• 0:06
  Speaker 0: And now welcome Mark Thompson here in my studio at Salzburg Summit.
• 0:09
  Speaker 0: He's the CEO of CNN, thanks for being here Mr.Thompson.
• 0:13
  Speaker 0: You are the Director General of BBC then CEO of The New York Times and you've been at C&N for almost three years.
• 0:23
  Speaker 0: Your panel discussion today was titled America In Transition.
• 0:27
  Speaker 0: What have been biggest changes within these last three years that your been with the CNN?
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: There's two halves of the story.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: Firstly, I've been a eyewitness and indeed involved in... ..the political story.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: Domestic politics are very important for CNN as you can imagine.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: And we secured it when I was very involved in securing it.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: A debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden in the summer of-of-of twenty, twenty four two years ago which was very decisive.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: Joe Biden's performance and that debate led to his leaving The Field on Kamala Harris becoming the Democratic candidate.
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: Of course Donald Trump won our election.
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: so firstly I've been very involved in the coverage the arrival, re-arrival of Donald Trump.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: So that's part of the story.
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: but at the same time we're involved in as many media organizations are and a fundamental change of CNN to prepare it for the future.
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: so In my time there We've launched our digital subscription model.
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: We found a way of putting all of our television services on online As parts of this subscription model.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: We've rolled that out in America, we'll be rolling it out other countries starting later this year.
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: We will do two countries at the end of next year but hopefully that service will available everywhere and all over the world including Austria.
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: so... So..we're having a pretty major fundamental change inside the organisation even as were trying to bring dynamic world, both American politics but also world events including the war in Ukraine and now in the Middle East Iran to audiences around.
• 2:39
  Speaker 0: Now, you've mentioned how CNN has changed or what CNN has experienced within these last three years.
• 2:47
  Speaker 0: I'd like to take a view on the whole media landscape in
• 2:50
  Speaker 0: U.S.,
• 2:50
  Speaker 0: and especially want to know do you believe that press freedom is under threat now under President Donald Trump?
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: Clearly Mr.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: Trump is someone who often talks aggressively about the press about the media and indeed, about CNN in particular.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: CNN is a particular bet noir of his.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: we've also seen some hostile actions by the Trump administration The change at the kicking of journalists out of the Pentagon And they more or less cancellation of pencil pentagon press briefing.
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: so to time when America as a war We're getting very infrequent press briefings about what's happening in the war, that means we have to do more investigative journalism.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: We have to figure out more journalism about it.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: so far although there have been a number of threats and a number the actual kind of legal and constitutional actions against the press have been quite limited.
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: But I think it's fair to say that we have to be concerned at the language the administration is using about the press, um... And there are risks there.
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: i think yeah.
• 4:14
  Speaker 0: Now you've already mentioned uh that CNN has been attacked verbally by Donald Trump several times now.
• 4:22
  Speaker 0: according to YouGov latest trust in media study CNN is the news outlet, Republicans trust The Least.
• 4:31
  Speaker 0: Now what do you attribute that to?
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: Well I think...I want say we reach a large number of Americans every month and many tens millions actually overall because our website which has got domestic monthly audience for their websites is around the hundred million marks, so a hundred million Americans.
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: That's almost a third of the population come to us every
• 4:57
  Speaker 0: month.
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: I mean i want to say that um...I'm most focused on whether people who freely decide to use us for news trust this or not.
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: in fact we've got one of the highest ratings for Trust In The News Industry from the People Who Use CNN and it may be some people never used CNN but who are often told by that the political leaders they admire The cnn is untrustworthy.
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: Maybe those people Don't trust C&N, but they're not customers.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: I'm most interested in making sure that we've got a very big customer base and our customers Continue to like the product.
• 5:40
  Speaker 0: do you think?
• 5:40
  Speaker 0: That news outlet should take your political stance?
• 5:44
  Speaker 0: Do you think it should?
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: I grew up in their public service tradition of journalism, which I'm very comfortable with.
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: Which is that actually?
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: no we should be observers of the political scene not participants and that we should cover all politics as observers in trying to do it as impartially as we can.
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: So that's the approach i want to bring And i am trying to bring too To CNN.
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: but Of course In a Very Divided Society People with very strong political opinions read their opinion.
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: They see news through the lens of rather tinted lens, so they're political views and that's a fact of life.
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: I think in divided times people often are less willing to encounter an accept difficult Facts or difficult truthful statements because they don't want to believe.
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: They're true, so there are all sorts of reasons why Gaining the trust of people who have got very strong political views is very difficult.
• 6:56
  Speaker 0: But do you think it's necessary?
• 6:57
  Speaker 0: To gain this trust and to win this trust back even though people Have a different political position.
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: I think most thing that we're trying to offer people is a chance to actually encounter what's happening in the world.
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: And I think that best form of journalism CNN can do is, where we're on the ground... We've got someone who was obviously a journalist and an obviously reporter asking questions about what's going to happen next you know, literally in the story and with people who are in the middle of a story.
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: And that kind of journalism is actually quite difficult to ignore.
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: You know we've been on-the ground In Iran during this war as well as Jerusalem and Doha and Dubai by the way Tehran.
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: We have had our colleague Fred Blightken at least three visits since his War began And he's reporting what he sees and hears in that country, just as Jeremy Diamond and our other colleagues in Jerusalem do exactly the same.
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: So to me it is much more about the experience of seeing the pictures... ...seeing actuality on whats happening.. ..and then having someone you can reasonably trust asking questions you could trust and getting answers, getting the answers you do.
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: So to me that's our duty!
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: And that is what we do... ...and if somebody says well I still don't believe you.. ..well i want say okay....don't!
• 8:44
  Speaker 0: No, you've already partly answered my next question because I'd like to know what is the role of Media a traditional media now in these days where there are so many opportunities?
• 8:54
  Speaker 0: To gain information and like influences podcasters.
• 8:58
  Speaker 0: And so well
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: as I'm very interested in me in the report an inner reporter As witness and our witnesses not just information As creatures, human beings... I mean we are in our personal lives.
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: Our private lives.
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: trust matters but trust is not.
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: you know.
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: if you go on a date with someone or meet somebody who could become your friend that might be about fact checking.
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: to some extent.
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: You may want look them up and see something strange But fundamentally it's an encounter of other humans.
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: Use all your faculties as you, your emotions or instincts.
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: As well as literally what they say when you ask them questions to figure out whether you can trust someone and I think witness a human witness And this is an am what the witness?
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: And particularly when you could have a camera with the witnesses You're doing now and those are the record.
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: there's a record of the encounter and then The viewer who was almost like your friend who you've introduced into this experience, and just in to this conversation can form their judgment as a human being.
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: As you do which is why I think like headlines You know one sentence versions of event they're very important.
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: people never are useful headlines But we can't add that much value with the text headline.
• 10:31
  Speaker 0: Okay,
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: you know I mean they're sort of commodity.
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: It's rather commodified and by the way machines can help us write headlines.
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: machines Can write highlights?
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: And and can right?
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: Concise versions of stories.
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: You know pre-sees or summaries of stories.
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: They can do that very well Already and they'll get very very good at that but they can't.
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: machine can't replicate a human encounter And it's going to be a long time, if ever before they can do that.
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: So I think we need to concentrate on what is unique and special about human reporting as an activity rather than thinking of... What would you do?
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: I don't just gather a list of facts but now face competition because some people believe the fact or machines can also steal our facts and make their own compilations.
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: That's important in some ways, but the most important thing we do is actually the activity of journalism.
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: I think we need to be better at sharing the activity with the audience.
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: let them see what we do.
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: it kind of interesting actually too.
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: then
• 11:40
  Speaker 0: now as a media executive you also need to monitorize journalism.
• 11:45
  Speaker 0: You need to make it financially sustainable and you already mentioned that you rolled out another paid subscription model for CNN after one attempt has already failed in two thousand twenty-two, so how satisfied are your results with this new model?
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: We haven't disclosed numbers but I would say i'm very encouraged at the moment In my view.
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: So
• 12:11
  Speaker 0: you
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: think that
• 12:12
  Speaker 0: also in the long run people will be willing to pay for journalism if it's good?
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: I know, many journalists doubt this but there is a very interesting profession where... Many of these people don't believe they'll ever pay access to what they do and i want say You're better than you think you are!
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: Actually..you may be surprised to hear this But what you'd do was quite valuable And People would really pay For It.
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: At The Times almost everyone, including quite a few people inside the Times that they'd launched The Digital Subscription Model.
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: When I arrived it seemed to be stuck at about half-a-million subscribers and a lot of them said well... They've done quite well!
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: Half million is quite a lot That's It!
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: I said no we should have at least ten million subscribers And People Literally Laughed At Me.
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: Well, it was over.
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: I think he's getting close to seven million when I left.
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: after eight years.
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: today they've got fourteen million subscribers.
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: now.
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: i have to say one of the fairly brutal about this a lot of news media organizations have failed to grow their digital models and i want to say its part mainly because they haven't actually executed them successfully as many are.
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: failure execution not because that demand isn't there.
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: Unfortunately, media finds it very hard to get out of its own way.
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: And they find the kind of radical change you need... ...to get these things to work and the investment that found those things difficult to achieve.
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: but I think with confidence.. ..and a clear plan for good people.... You can achieve real scale.
• 13:50
  Speaker 0: Artificial intelligence is currently a big problem changing topic in all industries and especially also in the journalism.
• 13:59
  Speaker 0: Now, in your view where is it useful?
• 14:02
  Speaker 0: And where are the limits?
• 14:04
  Speaker 0: or where does it also even pose a threat?
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: well I want to say media as a whole i think gets far too wrapped up in the threats and doesn't think enough about the positive applications.
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: so they're not...I think most news organizations And I would say experiment a lot so you learn as quickly as you can.
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: By the way, you'll learn what to worry about by doing it.
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: if You just stay aloof or worry About kind of Frankenstein's monster The risk is used get left behind.
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: So i think engage with It?
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: I Think As A Way Of Helping Us Get Better At Getting Audiences Attention and Have Giving People The News They Need When they Wanted on the device they want it, where they want to.
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: I think AI can help us with all of those things.
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: there are some obvious pitfalls and some obvious systemic risks around AI but again as i've said you more human uh...and a more we can focus on the human experience.
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: journalism.
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: less easy for is AI to disintermediate us, the get between US and the audience by taking what we do.
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: And giving it directly to the audience.
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: now that's a real threat.
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: so I mean you know The fact that Gemini is now directing people used to direct people.
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: if they asked a search term which was about the news Google would direct you too in use organization.
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: increasingly Google just answers the question directly itself, so they never leave Google's universe.
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: That is a risk to us definitely.
• 15:50
  Speaker 0: Mark Thompson thank you for your time.