As Asia reshapes the world, CNN bets on context over headlines
As Asia reshapes the world, CNN bets on context over headlines
Vaishnavi Yadav
| 1 hour ago
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As Asia continues to shape the global conversation through its influence on geopolitics, technology, business, culture, and climate, the need for deeper, more nuanced storytelling has never been greater. Moving beyond the fast-paced daily news cycle, CNN’s “Meanwhile in Asia” aims to uncover the stories, people, and trends that define one of the world’s most dynamic regions through a more conversational and context-rich format
In conversation with Adgully,Kunal Sehgal, Senior Producer at CNN,andIvan Watson, Senior International Correspondent at CNN,discuss the inspiration behind the show, how they identify stories that deserve deeper exploration, the evolving global interest in Asia, the challenges of reporting in an era of AI, misinformation, and fragmented media consumption, and the emerging trends that they believe will shape not just Asia, but the rest of the world over the next decade. Drawing on years of frontline reporting across conflicts, humanitarian crises, political upheavals, and technological transformation, both journalists also reflect on how international journalism is evolving to provide greater context, credibility, and human connection in an increasingly complex world.
What gap in international news coverage did you identify that led to the creation of ‘Meanwhile in Asia’, and how does the show aim to tell Asia’s stories differently from traditional news formats?
Ivan Watson:Frankly, this was Kunal’s idea in the first place. When he pitched it to me, I happily jumped on the bandwagon. I’m delighted by any opportunity we have to highlight the incredible work and experience that our colleagues across the region engage in. In the enormous deluge of daily news, some of this more colourful, personal and fascinating reporting gets drowned out. This is a chance to dive a bit deeper into some of this amazing storytelling…whether it is our Tokyo correspondent Hanako Montgomery going to look at the disturbingly toxic garment recycling industry in a corner of India or digital producer Isaac Yee visiting a remote former CIA airbase in Laos that was at the centre of a covert conflict during the Vietnam War.
And by doing this in a conversational format, versus in print or on live television, our viewers get to see more of the personality and passion of these talented journalists
Asia is home to some of the world’s most significant political, economic, and technological shifts. How do you decide which stories deserve deeper exploration beyond the daily news cycle?
Ivan Watson:Our ‘Meanwhile In Asia’ team has a robust discussion every week where we try to plan the next episode. It can be a little tricky…due to some production challenges, we have to tape the show nearly a week before it drops. That pushes us to step away from the news of the day, which probably isn’t a bad thing.
Part of what I love about this project is that everyone on the show team comes from somewhere else: India, Australia, mainland China, the Philippines, the US and the UK…so everybody flags different story ideas
A week or so back, we went into the week thinking we were going to do “Plan A.” And then the newest member of our team, Kloe Zheng suggested an interesting development…that enrolment in China’s much-feared “gaokao” university entrance exam had declined for two years in a row…and that we were in the nail-biting days when some 13 million Chinese students wait for the incredibly important test results- which could easily determine the direction of their careers. The next thing you know, we were doing a deep show dive on the gaokao!
And that gets back to part of what I love about ‘Meanwhile In Asia’. During my decade-plus living and reporting across the continent, I’ve enjoyed learning from my incredible colleagues. We have these editorial discussions every day in the Hong Kong news room and between CNN bureaus. Now we get to share some of these conversations with a wider audience!
The show’s early episodes have ranged from geopolitics and AI to environmental pressures on Mount Everest. What editorial philosophy guides the selection of such diverse topics?
Ivan Watson:Curiosity. I’m glad you bring up the Mount Everest episode. I frankly never really paid much attention to the world’s highest mountain, nor to the industry that surrounds it. On that episode, I learned a lot from our Atlanta-based colleague Sugham Pokarel, a proud son of Nepal who has led a CNN team to Base Camp.
Hopefully, the audience learned something too
On the flips side, on that episode we also featured my own visit to Hong Kong’s first Comic Con. My co-host Kunal Sehgal doesn’t [or didn’t] know the first thing about comic books. I don’t think he expected to see me fan-boy out over the superhero comics that I’ve loved since I was a kid
We have another advantage. Asia is so huge and so diverse. There is so much fascinating stuff going that every week we get to get to say “which corner of the world should we explore next?”
As journalists who have covered major global events for years, how have you seen international audiences’ interest in Asia evolve, and what stories do you think remain underreported?
Kunal Sehgal:I think international audiences’ interest in Asia has evolved significantly over the past decade. What was once viewed a geopolitics or economics story is now seen much more broadly as a centre of technology, innovation, culture, and global influence
As Asia continues to establish itself as a major economic power, audiences are paying far closer attention to developments across the region. It is also impossible to ignore the scale of these markets – Asia is home to two of the world’s most populous countries, both of which have continued to grow steadily despite wider economic headwinds. At the same time, these countries face unique social, political, and economic challenges, which makes the region even more compelling to follow
Another major shift has been the rise of Asia’s soft power. Whether through K-pop, anime, film, or the global expansion of Asian cuisine, younger audiences in the West are engaging with Asia in a far more personal and cultural way than before
I’ve noticed that even when discussing stories or themes with our teams in London and Atlanta, there is a genuine curiosity and openness toward stories emerging from Asia
At the same time, there are still many stories in the region that remain underreported. Climate change reporting in Asia, for example, does not receive the sustained attention it deserves, despite the region being on the frontline of the climate crisis. Many communities are already experiencing its effects in profound ways
I also believe we are only beginning to understand the full impact of AI in Asia. This is not just a technology story, it is also about its social, environmental, economic, and political consequences. These are issues that require much deeper reporting and continued scrutiny
Then there are stories that may not necessarily be underreported, but still demand ongoing attention. As journalists, it is important that we continue shining a light on human rights issues, whether that is the situation for women and girls in Afghanistan or the civil war in Myanmar
With the rise of AI, misinformation, and fragmented media consumption, how is global journalism adapting to maintain credibility and audience trust?
Kunal Sehgal:It’s an interesting but quite complicated – and something that is discussed in a lot of strategy meetings across news organizations. I guess it’s probably easier to break these down and answer them separately:
AI:I think we see it both as a major opportunity yet something that requires real caution
There has already been legal scrutiny around issues like data scraping by AI models, including cases involving news organizations and publishers. We are also dealing with new challenges such as AI-generated deepfakes, which makes verification more important than ever, especially in breaking news situations, where accuracy should always come before speed
At CNN, we’ve expanded training in areas like open-rengthening reporting. At the same time, we do need to embrace AI. It can help process large data sets, support audience analysis, and refine content strategies. In some markets, it’s also being used in tools like chatbots for audience engagement, which is an interesting development
Ultimately, it’s about using AI responsibly while maintaining strong editorial standards and verification
Misinformation:Misinformation is unfortunately a reality in today’s world, particularly in volatile situations. We saw this, for example, during the India–Pakistan conflict last year, as well as during various Gen Z-led protests across Asia, where misinformation spread rapidly online, and in some cases could be deadly.
In that sense, the work of journalists has become more challenging, but also more important than ever. In an increasingly polarised environment, the responsibility to verify, contextualise, and navigate false or misleading information is critical to maintaining trust and accuracy in reporting
Media consumption:I think you need to go where your audiences are and as consumer habits have changed over time, including where and how they consume news, we need to adapt ourselves as well. Maintaining credibility remains essential, so the focus continues to be on strong editorial standards, impartiality, and trustworthiness. Journalism is also becoming more transparent about its reporting processes and engaging more directly with audiences, helping people better understand not just the news itself, but how and why it is being reported.
Kunal, you’ve reported on some of Asia’s most consequential stories. What reporting experience has most shaped your understanding of the region’s complexities and interconnectedness?
Kunal Sehgal:I’ve covered many stories before and since, but the one that most profoundly shaped me as a journalist, and incidentally became my first major breaking news story, was the Rohingya refugee crisis in 2017, when hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled Myanmar into Bangladesh. Witnessing families walking for days through fields and forests amid reports of gunfire and violence, seeing exhausted children carrying elderly relatives, and watching overcrowded boats arrive along the beaches of Cox’s Bazar was unlike anything I had experienced before. The scale of human suffering was overwhelming. It was not only a story about displacement and survival, but also one that revealed the deep intersections between history, ethnicity, politics, regional diplomacy, and international response in Asia.
Ivan, your reporting has spanned conflicts, political upheavals, and investigative journalism across continents. How has Asia’s growing influence changed the way global newsrooms approach the region today?
Ivan Watson:From a logistical point of view, one of the trickiest things about working at a global news organisation and being based in Asia is communicating with our colleagues on the other side of the planet. The fact that they’re sleeping while things are happening here can make it tricky to share their importance with our colleagues in the Americas, and vice versa
CNN has invested heavily over the last few years, beefing up our Hong Kong newsroom as part of a “Follow the Sun strategy. That means my colleagues here on the overnight US desk are responsible for directing coverage of the US while most of the US is asleep. As a result, I think my colleagues our US newsrooms also now have deeper appreciation of the important political, economic and cultural shifts happening over here in Asia
I’ll never forget covering the first months of the Covid pandemic in China and South Korea. That was a disruptive global phenomenon that traumatized all of us. But I remember being in Seoul and filming how the Koreans had come up with drive-through Covid testing, to avoid concentrating people indoors.
And one of the responses from CNN viewers as Covid testing was just getting off the ground in the US was: “hey, why can’t we do that here?!” Sure enough, drive-through testing started popping up in US states…as well as in other countries
As the Covid pandemic and the energy crisis triggered by the War in Iran have demonstrated, no one can afford to ignore things happening on the other side of the plant. At the same time, we can all stand to learn a lot from each other
Looking ahead, what are some of the emerging trends, challenges, or societal shifts in Asia that you believe will have the greatest impact on the rest of the world over the next decade?
Ivan Watson:I wish I knew! The longer I’ve worked as a journalist, the more I’ve realised about how wrong my predictions tend to be…
There’s a tremendous amount of ink that’s been spilled about the growth of AI or the rise of China. US-China competition continues to play out with consequences for the rest of the world. The challenges posed by demographic decline continue to pop up in unexpected ways across northeast Asia.
Probably one of my biggest flaws- is failing to recognize when new narratives emerge that don’t yet have a built-in headline. Sometimes I’m so busy reporting on a fire burning in one place [something like the War in Iran], that I miss the rise of something new and fascinating right under my nose here in Hong Kong
‘Meanwhile In Asia’ gives me the opportunity to take a step back and try to recognize some of these emerging trends, thanks in large part to my hard-working colleagues. Please, go check it out!
Looking ahead, what are some of the emerging trends, challenges, or societal shifts in Asia that you believe will have the greatest impact on the rest of the world over the next decade?
Kunal Sehgal:I think Asia’s growing influence over the next decade will increasingly shape the global economy, technology, geopolitics, and even the climate agenda. One major trend is the region’s role as a driver of innovation: from artificial intelligence and semiconductors to electric vehicles. At the same time, economic competition between major powers are reshaping global trade and investment patterns, with Asia at the centre of that transition
Another challenge will be demographic change. While some countries in Asia have rapidly ageing populations, others have large and youthful populations entering the workforce, creating very different economic and social pressures across the region. Climate change will also be a defining issue, particularly because many Asian countries are among the most vulnerable to rising sea levels and extreme weather.
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exclusives03-Jul-2026Kunal SehgalSenior Producer at CNNIvan WatsonSenior International Correspondent at CNN
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