An expansive profile in The Washington Post looks at CNN’s new morning show “New Day,” with a particular focus on its 29-year old co-host, Kate Bolduan.
The Post’s Paul Farhi notes the challenges that have faced CNN’s previous morning show efforts, and the changes coming this time around. At the top of that list is CNN president Jeff Zucker and “New Day” senior EP Jim Murphy, both morning show veterans.
“Our hope is that it will accomplish a couple of things,” says Murphy, surveying the new set. “We want to have more than the other guys. More stories, more live shots, a lot of coverage of the big stories of the day, without being tedious. . . . We won’t be ‘Fox and Friends’ or ‘Morning Joe.’ We’ll have some of the same conversations they have, but with our own take.” The tone, he says, will be “comfy and conversational.”
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Then there is Bolduan. Farhi notes her quick ascent in the TV news world, but also that it wasn’t without its challenges.
There’s been only one small stumble along her gilded path. During a live stand-up outside the Supreme Court last June, Bolduan reported that the court had struck down the individual mandate in President Obama’s health-care overhaul, prompting Blitzer to announce the law’s demise. Bolduan was partially accurate but entirely wrong; the court said the mandate was unconstitutional under the Commerce Clause, but the full opinion upheld it as a tax, thus leaving the law in place. CNN corrected the report minutes later.
To her credit, Bolduan owns the mistake. “I learned a lot of lessons from that,” she says frankly. “No matter what, I’m the face of whatever information goes out there. I’m happy to talk about it. You don’t get into this business and you do not take on this job I’ve taken on and not have on your big-girl pants.”