Rena Golden, Senior Vice-president, CNN International

As Senior Vice-president of CNN International, Rena Golden oversees the editorial production, programme development, talent and day-to-day operations of CNN International, which encompasses five English-language CNN networks that reach an audience of more than 202 million television households worldwide in more than 200 countries and territories. As the lead architect of the network’s ambitious ‘regionalisation’ strategy, an initiative that began in 1997, Golden has managed the launch of more than 80 hours of programming tailored for regional audiences.

In her current role, Golden has also served as Executive Producer for major live events and breaking news including the ongoing war in Iraq, Israel-Lebanon conflict, death of Pope John Paul II, the tsunami disaster in South Asia, the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon, the beginning of air-strikes in the war in Afghanistan, and Great Britain’s handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997. She began her career as a writer for CNN/US in 1985.

Golden earned a Bachelor’s degree with honours in English Literature from the University of North Carolina, USA. She serves on the advisory boards of Atlanta Woman Magazine and the New York Museum of Television and Radio’s Documentary Festival, and is a member of the Turner Diversity Committee.

In this interview with exchange4media’s Priyanka Borpujari, Golden talks about the evolution of journalism over the years, the way the world is looking at India, and CNN’s tie-up with TV 18. Excerpts:

Q. What kind of presence does CNN have in Iraq?

It can be seen there in some hotels and government ministries, but most households cannot see CNN.

Q. Do you see CNN borrowing content from CNN-IBN in the near future?

We already are doing so! CNN-IBN shares its news coverage with us every day and vice versa. So that partnership already exists. If we do special features on India, we may partner with them again, but there is nothing specific to talk about now.

Q. Handling the content for programmes for 200 countries is no easy task. How do you work around the sensibilities of such a diverse audience?

The audience is definitely very diverse. Our audience is the global citizen. It is the men and women who are influential in the business world, in the political arena, in the diplomatic community, who have interests outside their immediate national borders. They are people whose interests supersede their national borders. So in that sense, whether that person is in India or Europe or the US, we target that global citizen. So it is sort of a very niche audience.

Q. How do u deal with sensibilities since they differ from region to region?

It is fun programming for a diverse audience but is also challenging. We have a very culturally diverse newsroom where journalists from 50 different nationalities work on the programming. So, for example, in addition to our newscasts, if we are broadcasting in prime-time India, our producers who are experts on Asia and in India in particular will be doing more stores of interest to the South Asian audience. Obviously, when our peak viewing is in a particular region, we tailor accordingly. We are still about global news, but with a regional touch. We tailor news towards that audience. But still, the number one thing that people come to CNN International for is international news.

Q. You started your career in journalism in 1985. How has journalism evolved over these years?

Back in 1985 when CNN was started, it was the only 24-hour news channel. There were no other competitors. There was BBC as international radio, and it had a huge network. Now, CNN is one of a hundred 24x7 news channels around the world. There are 35 news channels in India alone, in Hindi and English. So the competition has exploded and that is one way in which journalism has changed.

We didn’t have Internet when CNN first started. The game was all about television. CNN made its reputation in breaking news. Now people can get breaking news in the train, on their telephones, etc. So the challenge for CNN now, and what has kept CNN strong over the years, is that it has adapted to these changes. Very often, it led the changes.

In the area of digital newsgathering, there was a time when if any news organisation wanted to cover a story, 30 suitcases were filled with camera and other equipment. Thanks to some pioneering by CNN and companies like Sony and Panasonic that we work with, we now have the ability to go and cover a news story with a camera that fits into a suitcase with equipment that is not bigger than a shoebox. So we can go into places where probably we couldn’t go in before -- with smaller equipment, with digital newsgathering -- and cover more areas in a more cost-effective way.

We also have one of the most popular news websites in the world, and have just launched services on mobile phones in Europe and are planning to look at that market in Asia as well. We are looking at what we can do in the video-on-demand space as well. CNN is looking beyond television; to really look at how no matter where you are, no matter where it is, you can get the news from CNN.

Q. Since you see yourself as one among the 100 in today’s scenario, how does CNN continue to make its mark? Especially since there are many more regional channels being launched across the world and are as good as CNN, how is CNN keeping up to be the global leader and not just the leader in the US?

There are independent surveys done in Europe and Asia that CNN and other pan-region news networks subscribe to, and CNN is the No. 1 news network on those surveys. But the way we continue to be No. 1 is by being leaders in the field, by building a website that is incredibly successful, through building other ways of disseminating news, and most importantly, through strong journalism. One big differentiating factor is that we have the strongest newsgathering operation, the best international news correspondents in the world, and that’s why CNN has always been distinctive and will continue to be.

Q. What are the rationale and the processes by which you decide the programming for India and other South East Asian countries?

The big determinant is stories that resonate outside the national borders. India and China are two big stories in Asia and globally too. What is happening in India -- in terms of the economy and the growth of the younger population -- is impacting the rest of the world. These are the people who will be leaders and captains of industries, and leading the world in the future. In China too, there are massive economic changes. So those are two big stories that resonate outside the national borders of India or China. That’s why they get so much coverage on CNN.

Q. With your tie-up with TV 18 for CNN-IBN, how would you take the collaboration further to leverage both brands?

We feel really good about how we’ve leveraged the brands in the short year that CNN-IBN has been on air. In addition to projects like the ‘Eye on India’ week, which was a major collaboration, CNN-IBN has provided coverage of major breaking news stories in India and vice versa -- we’ve provided coverage of major international news stories to CNN-IBN. So I only see this partnership going stronger, and we want to continue to collaborate with them. They are a very strong partner for us.

Q. Could you throw some light on the CNN versus Fox News battle in the US?

Internationally, there is no CNN versus Fox News. It is just in the US. There has been a lot written about the ratings war between CNN and Fox News in the US. I think media writers are more interested in a frank lead than the general audience, and those numbers depend on the way you read them. CNN has more viewers than Fox News; Fox News viewers watch for a longer period of time. Frankly, that is a question for CNN’s managers in the US to answer. But CNN competes incredibly well across international borders, and that is what I look into.

Q. What was the idea behind the regionalisation strategy that you brought about in 1997?

The idea was really to do global news with a local touch. While CNN is a 24-hour news channel seven days a week, there was a realisation that in certain times of the day we had more viewers in South Asia or Europe or in any other place in the world. We regionalised our programming to get more relevant programming for those viewers. Regionalisation is about getting global news to viewers and helping them understand how that affects them locally and regionally.

Q. How do you think journalism has evolved in content, and in terms of ethics?

Ultimately, I think unbiased, objective reporting is what makes CNN distinctive and that is what CNN has built its reputation on. CNN has always been the breaking news leader, but never at the expense of not getting the story right. We would rather be right, rather wait and get the story fair, before rushing in headlong. Over and over again, in regional surveys in the US, Europe and Asia, CNN has been voted as a trusted news organisation, and we have to keep that reputation.

Q. Would you say that CNN is a supplementary for the India audience, because they already have local or national news channels?

CNN is not necessarily mass media. It is about people who have interests outside their national borders. There are many Indians in various spheres who consider themselves global citizens. For that reason, they value CNN, in addition to their national news networks.

Q. Do you think the global audience right now is ready to sit up and look at emerging India?

Absolutely! India has been a focus of the world’s attention for the last several years now, and I think the world is very carefully watching what happens to India or China. People now want to invest in India; they want to travel to India; many people from the diaspora of returning to India since there is that sense of Indian pride. There are also many Indians as a prominent minority group in countries like the US, for example. Indians are a small minority but they are the wealthiest minority -- the average per household income of Indian and South Asian families in the US is higher than White families. People are more used to seeing Indians now in Silicon Valley, in the arts and media in the US.

Q. What do you think are the differences between news channels in India vis-à-vis international channels like CNN and BBC, in terms of technology, content and other aspects?

I think the most obvious difference is that we are targeting different audiences. CNN-IBN, NDTV, Doordarshan and the others are competing in a national market. We are not competing with the 24-hour news channels here because we are an additional service that adds value since we are about international news. So the audience is the prime differentiator.

I have seen that the Indian media is extremely sophisticated; the production values are great. Television is growing by leaps and bounds here. So by no means do I think that American or European television is more sophisticated. But what CNN is targeting is not the same as any national news network, and that includes the Indian news channels.

Q. You have been the Executive Producer of CNN during many major world events like 9/11, regional conflicts and tsunami, among many others. Could you recount the challenges you faced while covering such a wide gamut of world events?

I think the big challenge is in the early hours of any major breaking news story -- making sure that you are disseminating information in a responsible way. As the most recent incident, in the immediate aftermath of the tsunami, it was tremendously difficult to get information. The information that we were getting was coming from user-generated content. It was coming from our viewers who were vacationing there or lived there; sending us cellphone pictures, videos, etc. We had to get those in the headquarters and other bureaux where they were coming into. We were also trying to get in touch with those people. So those initial hours of a big breaking news story, when you search and try to get in touch with the base, is incredibly challenging, and that’s when you feel such a responsibility to get it right.

Q. How was the recent Iraq war covered? And for whatever little viewership you have there, what has been the response CNN got from there for the coverage?

We covered the war by being in Iraq, even though many other news organisations had to leave the place for good reason. It is one of the most dangerous places in the world. CNN has stayed there throughout the war, and even now. It has been terrible -- we have lost two of our employees who were shot to death. Each time some reporter leaves to cover a story, the person is risking his life.

Outside Iraq, CNN has a strong regional presence in the Middle East and the Gulf states, and we have covered the European and American responses too. This is other way that we covered the war. It has been a very unpopular war in Europe and the Middle East. So in that sense, we have given a 360-degree view of what’s happening on the ground, but also the response too. One under-covered area is the impact on the civilian population. CNN feels very strongly as that is an angle that we have a responsibility to cover; but it is incredibly dangerous for the civilians there. It is hard for us to sometimes to get out. That’s when we cannot get the story and we relied on our affiliates -- Al Arabia, Al Jazeera and others to share with us some of their information that we cannot cover.

Q. Other than for disasters, why does news from India not figure regularly on global channels?

I do think India figures regularly. I am asked a similar question when I am in Europe, or in the UK, or Germany, or even China: ‘Why don’t you do more stories on us?’ India has one of our largest bureaux and we have regular, daily coverage. But we are not covering India for an Indian audience; we’re covering India for an international audience. So, relative to the national news networks here, it is never going to seem like it is enough. It will never be as much as CNN-IBN covers. An American watching CNN-IBN will say, ‘Why aren’t you covering more of what is happening in America? There are a lot of Indians in America, I don’t see that coverage’. I don’t think we will satisfy any particular national audience of the coverage of their country.