Liza Donnelly
The major US TV broadcaster is adding New Yorker cartoonist Liza Donnelly to its “CBS This Morning” crew in order to “grow its brand on social media and beyond”. The idea is to “differentiate” the show’s coverage on TV and via social media.
“It brings a visual component to stories that doesn’t exist in our space,” said the show’s executive producer Ryan Kadro. “We look at the social platforms as an extension of our brand. When we put Liza on television it’s to make people aware that we have this happening on our other platforms, to go and check out our Instagram and social feeds.”
© Liza Donnelly/CBS
Donnelly – who will continue to contribute to The New Yorker – was first introduced to the “CBS This Morning” team during the Democratic Party’s convention in Philadelphia this summer. The cartoonist, who was on assignment for The New Yorker, appeared on the show to publicise her illustrations of the convention. While in the greenroom, she made a quick sketch of guest Carole King, who would perform on the last night of the convention. Her ability to quickly depict a scene by sketching on an iPad drew the attention of the three hosts and crew.
© Liza Donnelly
A few collaborations with CBS followed, including a series of sketches of the anchors and crew at work during the Democrats’ National Convention and other behind-the-scenes moments. Her stints have proven very popular and now Donnelly’s tenure is on a more permanent basis.
So there it is. A cartoonist providing unique, intriguing and humorous content to attract people’s attention: who’d have thought it?
You can read more about this in Alexandra Steigrad’s piece on the WWD website.
Thanks to Glenn Marshall for drawing this to the Blog’s attention.