Kasie Hunt has long been known for her work on the political beat, but in days to come she hopes people will think of her for news about culture or sports, maybe the weather. When the news cycle delivers something weird or surprising, the CNN early-morning anchor says she is even “willing to make faces on the air.” Cable’s A.
M. news shows have thrived in recent years by focusing relentlessly on politics, Now CNN and Hunt want to scramble viewers’ perceptions by widening the network’s aperture. “We want to be there for them even when politics is not the lead,” says Hunt during a recent interview.
People who tuned in to Monday’s “ CNN This Morning ,” the program Hunt anchors between 5 a.m. and 7 a.
m. — now with her name in the title — may have noticed a few new elements on screen, particularly starting at 6. New blue-and-yellow graphics echo the on-screen tones of a “Good Morning America” or “Today.
” The 6 a.m. hour opened with a three-person panel clustered about a round table strewn with current newspapers, all to discuss the latest ups and downs of the presidential campaigns of former President Donald Trump and U.
S. Vice President Kamala Harris. CNN has tried many times to boost its A.
M. efforts, and not often successfully. The network has long struggled to beat its early-hours competition, MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends.
” In 2013, CNN positioned a new trio of anchors – Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan and M.