CNN has hired Kyla Scanlon to create “explainers” that see to help audiences understand the economic landscape across various CNN outlets, reports Brian Steinberg of Variety.
Steinberg writes, “Scanlon’s hire is the latest by mainstream journalism companies of so-called ‘creators’ or ‘influencers’ who have won over followers by diving into a particular topic or area of interest and leading discussions around them on social-media venues such as TikTok or emerging platforms such as Substack. These personalities are seen as critical in an era when a younger generation gets more of its information and news from non-traditional media venues, and less from TV — especially as CNN and its rivals work to establish their own new-media outposts. They are also typically cheaper to hire than a traditional journalist.
“CNN has been working to build CNN All Access, a subscription platform aimed at younger customers who follow mobile and social media. Others are tilling similar ground, with MS NOW working to launch a broadband subscription offering that focuses on its community of viewers. NBC News has already launched a similar product that offers newsletters and exclusive content from its staff of journalists.
“Scanlon will focus primarily on CNN Business. In the past, she has examined such topics as tariffs, artificial intelligence, the value of higher education and GenZ’s role in the economy.”
Scanlon has more than one million followers across platforms, including TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Substack. Her debut book and New York Times bestseller, “In This Economy? How Money and Markets Really Work,” is where she coined the term “vibecession” to describe the disconnect between strong economic data and negative sentiment.
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