What To Know
- NCS launched a podcast-style makeover on exhibits like The Lead and Anderson Cooper 360 final week.
- The new format obtained criticism from media commentators and viewers, who argued that beauty adjustments received’t tackle deeper points.
- While some praised NCS’s willingness to experiment, on-line reactions had been largely blended, with many mocking the brand new look.
NCS tried out a brand new look on Friday (March 20) when Jake Tapper hosted The Lead from his precise workplace, full with poster-covered partitions and an uncovered podcast-style microphone.
“We‘re going to try something a little different today. Welcome to my office,” Tapper said at the top of Friday’s present, per The Daily Beast. “We thought we would bring you into the space where me and my team do our actual journalism and plan the show every day. So here we are giving it a shot.”
However, the brand new look, harking back to a typical podcast studio, was met with criticism. YouTuber Keith Edwards instructed the Status e-newsletter, “It’s kinda like rearranging furniture in a burning house. It shows they fundamentally don’t understand why audiences are leaving.”
Edwards added that the problems with mainstream media received’t be fastened by its lead anchors sitting behind a “big podcast mic.”
Fellow NCS host Anderson Cooper additionally appeared in entrance of an uncovered mic on his present Anderson Cooper 360 final week. A NCS insider instructed Status that the podcasting world has grow to be a “natural environment” for the host; Cooper hosts the All There Is podcast, which incorporates sincere conversations about grief.
So Jake Tapper is now doing his present from his workplace, additional demonstrating the impression of unbiased media on legacy entities.
Meanwhile, I used to be ready for Tapper to journalistically push again on Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy stating Democrats are inhibiting funding… pic.twitter.com/kABLxlNICd
— JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) March 20, 2026
A former govt instructed the e-newsletter that the podcast-look is unlikely to enchantment to NCS’s older viewers. “I’m not convinced that podcast microphones and behind-the-scenes shots are enough to move the needle,” they mentioned.
Another added that NCS is “a little late to the party” and the transfer reeks of “desperation” from the community.
However, one other govt praised NCS for the try, noting, “You experiment and fail, but you’re learning each time.”
The on-line response was equally blended, with many mocking NCS’s makes an attempt to shake issues up.
“What’s next? Smoking cigarettes during an interview?” wrote one X person.
“Looking forward to @JohnBerman from the bathroom stall,” one other quipped.
“I watched Anderson last night found the large mics to be a real distraction. One in front of him and one for each of two guests, sitting relatively close together. Looked kinda silly,” one other mentioned.
Another wrote, “That looks like a closet more than it does an office for such a high profile anchor personality.”
“It’s not the format. It’s the content,” mentioned one commenter.
What do you consider NCS’s new look? Let us know your ideas within the feedback beneath.