For most American news consumers, the past decade or so has felt like a never-ending rollercoaster ride. For a news anchor and correspondent like Armonk resident John Berman, who co-anchors CNN’s morning news program, it has made the last few years downright frenetic.
“I can’t remember the last time things were slow. Every time something unprecedented happens, as soon as that thing is over, something else unprecedented happens,” Berman tells Inside Armonk. “It’s tiring, but on the other hand, it’s exhilarating.”
Berman has been covering the news for roughly three decades – beginning his career with ABC News in 1995 and joining CNN in 2012. In 2011, Berman and his family – he and his wife have 18-year-old twin boys – moved to Armonk from New York City.
The news business has changed dramatically – and continuously – over Berman’s career. When he joined ABC News as a desk assistant in 1995, the network did not yet have a website. When he joined CNN in 2012, few had heard of a podcast. And even in 2018, when Berman appeared on the cover of this magazine, Substack was still an unknown newcomer to the industry.
Today, Berman resides in a media environment in which the options are endless, and consumers can always find a news source to support their views. This, Berman acknowledges, can make it harder to reach people.
“People do retreat to their silos much more quickly than they ever have before,” Berman says. “When they are there, they’re in a little bit of an echo chamber and they don’t hear any differing opinions.”
Berman, who co-anchors CNN News Central from 7-10 a.m. weekdays with Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner, sees his job as mostly unchanged. While his network – and both cable news and linear television more broadly – have had to find ways to adjust to changing news habits, Berman’s job remains focused on the journalistic output.
“Our job is to try to just tell people what’s going on and present it as is, and then let them absorb it how they like,” he explains. “If I could hold down the fort with the news every day from 7 to 10, then it lets the people who are trying to figure out how to reach new audiences do that.”
‘Straight News Doesn’t Have to be Boring’
While news consumers’ shift towards news sources that reflect their worldview is a real trend, Berman believes it only tells part of the story.
“CNN’s bread and butter is breaking news,” Berman says. “When things really are happening and it is breaking, for better or worse, people do want to come to CNN still. No matter what Substack they read, no matter what newsletters they’re associated with, no matter which TikTok videos, if there’s something live-breaking, and we have cameras there, they will still come to us in big numbers.”
As a news journalist, Berman sees his role as simply to inform, not opine, on the topics of the day.
“One of the things that my show does well is focus on what’s new when people wake up in the morning without spending lots of time complaining about something that happened three or four days ago,” he says. “We’re trying to look forward as much as we can.”
But unopinionated does not mean uninteresting, he adds.
“Straight news doesn’t have to be boring,” he says. “I think news is inherently compelling, and our job is to present it in a compelling way.”
A New Perspective
When Berman’s family moved to Armonk, his twin sons were preparing to enter kindergarten. Both recently turned 18, and hearing how they process the news and world events has become another source of insight for Berman.
“It actually helps because I start seeing the world through their eyes more,” Berman says. “They give me a new perspective. They weren’t old enough to vote in the last election because they just turned 18, but I was very much interested in how they were seeing it and what they were hearing.”
Berman has no plans to leave Armonk once his boys have graduated. An avid runner, he enjoys being a bit removed from city life.
“I love the woods. I love the hills,” he says. “I should add, when I say I love the hills, I mostly love the concept of the hills. I live in Windmill, which is a beautiful, close-knit community, but it is like the Alps. I might be getting too old to run up and down the hills every day. Can’t there be somewhere flat around here?”
And professionally, Berman says he looks forward to continuing in the morning spot. The role has allowed him to cover history-changing events in recent years, from wars to elections.
“I was in Ukraine not long after Russia invaded, and I was in awe of the determination and the resilience of the Ukrainian people,” he says. “We’ve had some absolutely compelling elections and wild swings in politics, and that’s always thrilling.”
Berman was briefly moved from the morning timeslot after Chris Licht was named CEO of the network in February 2022. Licht’s tenure didn’t last long – he parted ways with the network in June 2023 – and Berman was returned to the 7 a.m. slot last year.
CNN News Central is now in one of its better stretches, Berman says, noting that his show beat MSNBC’s Morning Joe in the 25-to-54-year-old demographic in January and February.
“If you look at the cable news landscape, I think we are the one most committed to actually presenting the news and presenting the news in a fairly unvarnished way,” Berman says.
With a new administration in office this year, Berman says he is fascinated to see how the economy responds to a period of uncertainty. And he looks forward to covering the outcome of truce negotiations in Ukraine, as well as how both parties and the electorate respond to Trump’s presidency.
“I’m actually having one of the better times of my life right now,” says Berman. “So, I just want to hang on for dear life and savor the moment and keep it going as long as I can.”
