In a “super-sized” news cycle, what news do you use?
Introduction
By Susan A. Hughes
October 23, 2025
It seemed fitting that two veteran journalists—Nancy Gibbs, the Lombard Director of the Shorenstein Center and the Edward R. Murrow Professor of Practice of Press, Politics and Public Policy, and Dana Bash, CNN chief political correspondent—would begin their discussion at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum with breaking news.
“We are in such a super-sized news cycle that I never quite know where to begin,” said Gibbs. “So, I default to the latest news.”
The news of the hour was the demolition of the entire east wing of the White House in preparation for the construction of a grand ballroom.
“It’s really interesting,” said Bash, “That with the volume of news that is so impactful on people’s lives, on the Constitution, on the separation of powers, and of the president very openly pushing the bounds in any way that he can, that this story resonating.”
Imagery is key, Bash noted. “As much as we use words and our voice, we know it’s the imagery and the pictures that seem to really break through.”
Amid warfare, a government shutdown over rising health premiums and the elimination of SNAP benefits, and continual ICE raids, it seems odd that something like a construction project would dominate the news.
“It’s the classic Trump Rorschach test,” said Bash. “If you love him and love what he’s doing, then you are all in.” While the image, she said, of Trump as a disrupter taking a wrecking ball to Washington, D.C., seems like a skit from Saturday Night Live, “in fact, he is physically doing it.”
The rapid fire of breaking news has been an adjustment for news broadcasters, Gibbs noted.
“We were a little rusty in Trump’s second term,” admitted Bash. “Joe Biden worked at the opposite speed, which is very different. Trump had four years in the White House to get his sea legs, then four years to strategize about how it would be when he got back in.”
One of the issues facing the press corps in the second Trump term is the limitations of press coverage, in the White House press pool, and most recently, at the Department of Defense (DoD). A pledge issued by the DoD requiring journalists to get authorization was met with a wholesale walkout of Pentagon reporters. The Pentagon then required staff to get permission before speaking before Congress.
“The Pentagon is a fantastic place to cover since there are so many different people to talk to,” said Bash. “Most news outlets, even conservative outlets like Fox and Newsmax, refused to sign the pledge, and yet we are still able to get solid coverage of the Pentagon.”
Perhaps the larger issue is shrinking viewership. “It is not unique to CNN,” noted Bash.
To drive home her point, Bash asked the Forum audience how many had cable television. Twelve people raised their hands. “Most of you are cord cutters,” she said, referring to viewers of streaming TV. “So, CNN is changing.”
In the coming weeks, Bash said, CNN will launch a streaming digital product, a subscription-based app. “With your subscription, you will be able to watch most of our shows, live feeds from the White House and reporting from the field.” It’s a very different way of communicating, acknowledged Bash, but necessary.
“We have to do both (traditional cable and digital media). And we are doing both.”
In the Forum event, available online, Gibbs and Bash discussed other challenges facing journalists, including Bash and colleague Jake Tapper’s moderation of the presidential debate in 2024 between Biden and Trump. “After [Biden’s] first answer on Medicare, I wrote on a piece of paper to Jake: he just lost the election.”
Photography by Mike DeStefano