Kyla Scanlon doesn’t have any formal background in business journalism but enough math tied to the creator economy adds up for her to have a new and potentially prominent role at CNN.
The Warner Bros. Discovery-backed outlet named Scanlon, a former investment analyst, as a contributor and economic analyst, and said she will create “explainers” that see to help audiences understand the economic landscape across various CNN outlets.
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.
