When Don Lemon parted ways with CNN in 2023, he left armed with a few qualities that were bound to serve him in good stead. He was one of the most recognized anchors in the country, and he knew what it took to stand apart from the rest of the TV news pack.
As he dipped his toes into independent, digital media, however, he realized he was just a rookie who had to develop new skills — and fast. Lemon rented studio space “in the heart of Manhattan,” but quickly found viewers wanted to see him in a more authentic venue, like in his living room with the fireplace lit. Early in his tenure, Lemon secured what in the traditional news business would be considered a big “get” — a one on one interview with tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, whose social-media platform, X, had just agreed to distribute a new Lemon program. After the journalist queried the mercurial Tesla boss about controversial details tied to his life and comments he had made, Musk broke their alliance — and the chance to get his new show on X backed by its owner. Lemon is pressing forward in court and recently won approval to move to trial in San Francisco Superior Court.
“I was more naïve then,” Lemon acknowledges in a recent interview. “You think most people are used to the rhythm and cadence of traditional linear television. It doesn’t work that way.”
Two years later, Lemon says he has found success by relying on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook, among other platforms, and by learning how to court advertisers and free himself from many of the rules he took to heart while anchoring innumerable hours on cable. He admits he is wary of talking about revenue, but is confident in his new business: “I will say to you that if it stays on the trajectory that it is on now, I will surpass what I was making” at CNN.
Dozens of other traditional TV journalists hope to follow Lemon’s path. In recent months, well-known TV news faces such as Joy Reid, Chuck Todd and Jim Acosta have entered the same arena, setting up Substack newsletters or podcasts with video components, and even taking part in new ventures such as one called Noosphere, which hopes to bundle talented reporters under a single media umbrella (In a different era, it might have been called a newspaper). And while many of these popular anchors are getting notice quickly, there is concern about whether all of them can eke out success. There is also debate brewing over what the swelling of their ranks means for the traditional outlets they once called home.
“Some journalists absolutely have that kind of power and will break though and, potentially, will have greater success from a monetization perspective on their own,” says John Harrison, leader of the Americas media and entertainment practice at EY. “But I think that’s going to be a smaller number, certainly, than the folks that are moving over there right now.”
The exodus of talent to new venues threatens to Babel-ize the media landscape even further than its current splintered state. Some of the exiting names are just the boost a nascent venture might want. Sure, politicians and talking heads will still turn up on CNN, but they are also adding to their coterie of media appearances, coming in to talk to Acosta on his new digital show, for example. Tie the anchor departures to the fact that some of them were butting heads with their traditional backers or got laid off, and the new recipe comes with a dash of controversy that makes for a natural ingredient in the never-ending race to capture attention.
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Indeed, the business seems to be reshaping itself as if this new league of creators will have staying power. WME, the powerhouse talent agency, has helped Joy Reid, formerly of MSNBC, launch a new podcast; Oliver Darcy, a former media reporter at CNN, to debut his own newsletter, “Status,” which the journalist says generates $1 million in revenue every 12 months; Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post to launch a new outlet called The Contrarian; and Acosta, the CNN anchor, to move to Substack.
“I don’t think this is going to slow down anytime soon,” says Hasan Hashmi, a talent agent at WME who represents journalists, among others. “I think you’re going to start seeing a lot more of it.”
Already, some of the traditional media companies have started to dip their toes . NBC News expects to emphasize its journalists’ direct connection to audiences as part of a subscription product it plans to launch for “mobile-first” audiences in the fourth quarter, according to a person familiar with the matter. The new service is expected to rely heavily on short-form video. CNN expects to augment its current digital subscription service with new offerings that could rely on personalities, according to a person familiar with the network. This person says CNN has a long history of striking relationships with influencers including Anthony Bourdain, Alison Roman or W. Kamau Bell who have starred in its original documentary series.
All of these ventures, independent or traditional, represent a bet that the average viewer remains hungry for news-adjacent commentary and conversation in an era when the appetite for the usual sources of headlines — newspapers, magazines and TV programs — is fading. According to a 2024 study from Pew Research, approximately 21% of Americans — including 37% of adults over 30 — say they regularly get news from influencers on social media. “Platforms like Substack, YouTube, and Spotify have become part of the establishment,” says Rachel Adler, an agent at CAA who represents many journalists. “When I think about the new world order in media, I’m excited about a massive democratization of creators.”
No traditional media company has leaned in on working with creators in recent months more than Fox Corp. The company has lined up deals with Barstool Sports personality Dave Portnoy to help the Fox Sports daytime schedule, and licensed rights to the popular conservative “Ruthless” podcast, led by a quartet of G.O.P. insiders, three of whom work for a Republican-aligned public-relations firm. Fox in February acquired Red Seat Ventures, a production outlet that works with conservative-leaning indie personalities (and former mainstream stars) like Tucker Carlson, Bill O’Reilly and Megyn Kelly. One new member of the roster is Brett Cooper, who has also been named a Fox News contributor. Fox’s ad-sales division has invested in a creator studio and its Tubi streaming service in June launched a venture aimed at bringing storytelling from creators to its options. Tubi suggested in June that “thousands of videos” would be coming to the platform in the coming weeks.”
“I think naturally, an increasing part of our digital audience will be creator driven. We’ve already begun tracking that closely within Tubi, which is where a lot of this will exist first,” says Paul Cheesbrough, CEO of Fox’s Tubi Media Group. “And I also think you’ll see a world where many of our key talent, in addition to doing the broadcast shows with us, will have a more direct-to-consumer reach as well.”
Talent agents and others are bracing for a different wave, one that has veteran journalists moving to new ground. “It feels to me like we are going back to valuing traditional beat reporters. Network TV has kind of shifted away from that, outside of Washington,” says Alison Pepper, a former CBS News talent executive and CAA agent who has launched a new venture to help reporters taking an independent route. The Briefing Room aims to give journalists crucial infrastructure and consulting services — maybe even a newsroom setting — to help them find their way as they walk their own paths. Still, she acknowledges, past success is no indication of what might happen in the future: “Big names might fall, and small names might rise, based on the quality of reporting and access to information.”
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Every Monday through Friday, Lemon, 59 years old, typically delivers two shows via YouTube, and remains active on Instagram, Substack and Facebook, among other venues. One day, he might offer a “Lemon Drop” to unpack breaking events. On another, he might interview Atlantic writer Thomas Chatterton Williams about how conservatives are going as “woke” as liberals. Fans can order a T-shirt emblazoned with the phrase “Turn the TV Off,” a “Lemon Live!” cocktail glass or even yellow socks done up with a “Lemon Head” caricature of the host chatting via a microphone.
When he first left CNN, the result of the company trying to rid itself of some of its most outspoken personalities by moving him out of primetime to an ill-fated morning program, Lemon thought he could just do what he had long been doing. At CNN, however, he was delivering hours of programming centered on events that had largely run their course half a day earlier, and had to be careful not to be as opinionated as he is in his current role. He also had to stop playing the game cable had taught him: talking to people about hours-old headlines “once the whole breaking-news value of it has subsided.”
He has no regrets about his interview with Musk. Lemon says the exchange served him well, bolstering his credibility to new followers. “You have to hold the powerful to account, and you have to treat them as you do any other interview subject,” he says. “Just because we were doing some sort of deal with someone, you can’t be bought and paid for. That does not work here.”
At first blush, the Musk imbroglio seemed like it would end Lemon’s new career before it could even get started. In fact, it forced him to find new ways to thrive – and fast. “They cancelled the contract, and we had to pivot instantly to a YouTube show. The learning curve on that was both steep and intense,” says Jonathan Wald, a longtime news executive and producer who has worked on new ventures with both Lemon and Brian Williams. “It was the best thing that could have happened to us, because it taught us what we needed to do to succeed. We had to make it work — and he did.”
Now, Lemon must be ready to produce new content at a moment’s notice. “Every post is like a mini-news story,” he says, and he finds himself toggling from one media platform to another in a bid to stoke followers’ appetites for more. He may turn to Substack to get people ready for a new YouTube show. And he must get out to do live interviews, attend events to get the word out about his programs and make sure he never, never veers from the regular cadence of output people have come to expect. “The algorithm — it rewards you if you’re consistent and you’re on.”
That takes more sweat than many might expect. “It actually takes a lot more grinding, because you don’t have a machine behind you,” says Justin Wells, a longtime Fox News producer who left the outlet along with primetime host Tucker Carlson and helped launch Carlson’s digital content business as well as his own production outlet, Ashokan Studios. “You’re doing a lot of things with fewer resources. You’re making a ton of calls, reaching out to various contacts. You are reaching out to everyone in your network that you’ve never spoken to in 20 years.”
Others are trying to find their own tempo. Chuck Todd, the former moderator of NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” does a “Chuck Toddcast” as well as a Sunday-night interview program on “Noosphere,” a new media platform that has attracted journalists including former Wall Street Journal reporter Brody Mullins. Among Todd’s recent guests: Rahm Emmanuel and Steve Bannon. He has also been spotted occasionally on CNN, offering the type of analysis he provides for years to NBC News.
Todd is excited about his prospects, but also a little wary. “How do you start anything that you own?” he asks. “You are responsible for it, and at the same time, you feel completely at the mercy of everyone else. It’s a strange feeling. You don’t want to miss an opportunity. It has all that kind of anxiety.”
He’s hoping to keep to his longstanding brand of explaining the political sphere to people without going into hot takes and political tribalism. “The algorithm rewards partisanship and punishes anyone who isn’t partisan. It is a huge problem in the news and information space,” says Todd. “I’m trying to bust that and scream at the cloud.”
Perseverance and fortitude, however, may not be enough in these nascent digital arenas.
Yes, there’s money to be had. If a news creator can is “compelling enough to get a scaled number of subscriber — if you can get 25,000 or 50,000 people paying ten buck a month for your Substack account, that starts to become real money,” says Harrison, the consultant. “If you can get a certain number of your followers to start paying attention to you there, it’s a nice landing zone.”
But the money isn’t going to just roll in. Some journalists are surprised by the amount of constant tending these new venues require — and not just at the start. “Many people don’t realize that launching an independent platform is like having a baby,” says Adler, the agent. “The thing about a kid is you have it forever. If you don’t take your kid to school, someone will call you and ask, ‘Why isn’t your kid in school?’ If you develop the kind of relationship with your audience where they come to expect a daily newsletter, but then you don’t manage to get it out, someone is going to be asking ‘Where is the newsletter?’”
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The business of news wasn’t built for this. In the usual model, newspapers and TV outlets hire a phalanx of reporters who can dig up interesting stories and details through expertise and knowledge, or with shoe-leather and moxie. The infrastructure allows the media companies to bundle all the journalism and send it out from a single platform, whether that be CBS or The Charlotte Observer. Now, many journalists think they can make good money — and enjoy similar stability — by striking out on their own.
The lure of the web isn’t new. Many unlikely candidates have struck it rich on YouTube, TikTok or podcasts, whether it be Jimmy “Mr. Beast” Donaldson, or any number of families offering reviews of toys or food. Little wonder that journalists might follow suit. Katie Couric launched her own “Wake Up Call” newsletter in 2017. Dan B. Harris, a popular ABC News correspondent who co-anchored the weekend edition of “Good Morning America,” left in 2021 to try his hand at his own media company devoted to meditation and self-improvement.
Technology and corporate tumult are among the chief factors spurring the growing parade of news faces to new frontiers.
Not too long ago, a young cohort watched their favorite YouTube personalities on their smartphones. Now, their elders can put the same stuff on their big-screen TV with ease. And with more big news names moving to independent ventures, there’s a surfeit of candidates vying for viewing time. “Google News is not helpful if you are a small publisher,” says Darcy. “The text-based stuff just does not thrive in places where audiences are, especially new ones. If you want a new audience, how do you get exposed to them?” The answer, often enough, is to add a video component to whatever newsletter, audio show or subscription offering one has launched.
What’s more, many of the corporations that have long brought traditional news to the masses seem eager to get out of that business — or at least cut down on some of the investment. Warner Bros. Discovery is casting CNN — once responsible for a significant chunk of the corporate parent’s annual profit — into a debt-laden spinoff of its cable networks. NBCUniversal is splitting up its news outlets, with MSNBC and CNBC joining Versant, a spin of vehicle that will launch later this year. Disney and Paramount Global both kowtowed to weak suits from President Donald Trump agreeing to pay settlements of $15 million and $16 million, respectively, to make the legal harangues go away rather than fighting for ABC News and CBS News.
News “has become a problem rather than a benefit, and the evidence is that corporations are spinning off their news operations. It’s not just expensive. It’s fraught with political problems,” says Wald. “Therefore, corporations are avoiding it and it’s a much more entrepreneurial venture.”
While some companies like Fox are investing in creators, it’s not clear whether most traditional media conglomerates will be able to ensure the success of each one. The past has borne witness to failures. CNN spent a reported $25 million to bring digital influencer Casey Neistat and Beme, his video sharing app, on board. After 14 months, the two sides parted ways without finding a sustainable business plan.
Giving viewers the headlines is no longer enough for the next generation of video hosts. “There are a lot of people in, say, the cable news world that’s on 24 hours a day, and a lot of them are just filing air time. They don’t have something important to say or anything interesting,” says Wells. There are other people who are interested in delving into a specific topic, whether it be politics, crime or travel, he adds, and “there is a significant opportunity for those people.” People who can’t offer differentiated content? “I don’t think those people are going to succeed.”
Even the most popular influencers of 2025 may be tough to monetize. Revenue comes from paid subscribers and sponsorships, say executives who work in the field, and big media companies may not have the time or patience for the granular efforts necessary to win such things over. Each personality is “a business in itself,” says Chris Corcoran, a podcasting veteran who has worked in recent years with everyone from Stephen A. Smith and Tony Kornheiser to Crooked Media, Goop and David Spade and Dana Carvey. Each venture needs to develop multiple arms that may include newsletters, events, video and audio programs, merchandise and more.
This isn’t how most large media conglomerates operate. For decades, they’ve sought large, simultaneous audiences that their sponsors and distributors crave. Now they’re being asked to consider a “thousand flowers bloom approach,” says Todd, for which they may not be prepared. At the current moment, he believes, most media companies are looking at pulling back resources and cutting news personnel — and there have been layoffs across many major media outlets in recent months. “You can’t cut to grow,” Todd admonishes.
Lemon has no choice but to get revved up. He sounds energized. He isn’t on traditional TV as much as he used to be, but he has a legion of “Lemonheads” who want to hear more from him. “This is all me,” he says. “I reap the benefits and the rewards, and if there any negative outcomes, it’s also mine.”
