This is a true story…two strangers…are chosen to work together…and their lives are filmed…to find out what happens when people stop being polite…and start getting real.
A version of these lines, read weekly at the opening of MTV’s endurance reality show “The Real World,” might not look all that out of place on CNN’s gritty panel show “Newsnight.” The series finds itself thrust into the spotlight by something the producers were unwilling to address: a profane threat made by one of the guests against another.
Conservative CNN analyst Scott Jennings, who regularly appears on the 10 p.m. show and often serves as a foil for many of the guests and host Abby Phillippe, told guest Adam Mokler on Thursday night to “get your hands out of my face” when the young liberal gestured about Jennings’ position on the current U.S.-Iranian conflict.
“No, everyone, please calm down, okay?” Philip warned them. He then told Jennings, “We’re having a discussion. You can respond to his points.”
A CNN spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
The rise in temperature has become noticeable. “Flashbacks to the war that skinheads started in my studio,” said Thursday night guest Geraldo Rivera, referring to a 1988 incident on the set of his syndicated show “Geraldo” in which white supremacists got into an on-stage altercation with activists. Rivera’s nose was broken by a flying chair. It may be remembered that Rivera was nodding off during another emotionally charged time on CNN, hosted by daytime hosts like Jenny Jones, Ricki Lake and Sally Jesse Rafael.
Philippe is tasked with moderating panels that include up to five different people in some parts, many of whom come from the world of podcasting and influencers. She has frequently worked as a kind of verbal traffic cop. “People should know that I’m always trying to make sure that if I hear something that’s not right and I see something that’s not right, I’m going to say something about it,” she told Variety in September 2024.
The panelists are clearly being told to listen to her. Philippe rarely shows anger, and guests usually do not challenge her when she rebuts a series of arguments based on facts reported by CNN. “I don’t think it’s beneficial to the audience if I increase the cacophony of sound,” she said in a past interview.
But they challenge each other. On Tuesday night, former Washington Post journalist Sarah Ellison spoke to conservative podcaster Ben Ferguson in more direct terms, albeit with a tenuous grasp of the facts of the debate at hand. Many of the show’s panelists are not professional journalists, but rather pundits and partisans (sometimes both) (although the “fifth seat” on the show is sometimes given to reporters and experts).
The formula worked well. “NewsNight” is often CNN’s most-watched show among its key audience of 25- to 54-year-olds. News program advertisers consider this demographic to be the most likely to listen to marketing messages and product promotions. Philip also hosts a similar weekend show on CNN, “Table for Five.”
Ben Bogardus, chairman of the journalism program at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn., said the show’s existence is evidence that CNN is trying to woo younger viewers. To engage with that audience, the Warner Bros. Discovery-backed station needs content that will be talked about on social media and picked up by conservatives and liberals alike. The network “seems to be trying to woo a younger demographic that wouldn’t normally watch the show,” he said.
Other well-known news programs have also grappled with disputes between panelists. This has become even more evident during the coronavirus pandemic, when remote production has kept teams apart and unable to discuss differences in person.
In 2021, a clip from Fox News Channel’s “The Five” of co-host Greg Gutfeld berating panelist Juan Williams went viral. Williams ultimately ended up leaving the show, citing a desire to be closer to his family in Washington, D.C., rather than return to the show’s New York City studio. ABC’s “The View” also saw more altercations as co-hosts including Megan McCain and Whoopi Goldberg failed to keep the temperature down during commercial breaks and argued from on-screen video boxes.
News may further increase our appetite for reality show-like antics. Executives “may look at this and say, OK, maybe we can tolerate a little bit more drama and intensity if it reaches an audience that hasn’t seen us before,” Bogardas said. Traditional news providers have been fractured by digital media offerings, leaving young audiences “very fragmented” and “throwing what will attract them against the wall”.
