Posted by Monday, May 7, 2018 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
Former CNN anchor Daryn Kagan made her debut appearance on Sunday as a commentator on the venerable "CBS Sunday Morning" news program.
In the video, Kagan, who married a widower, did a Mother's Day-themed talk about how her daughter was effectively raised by two moms. The child's bio-mom died when the girl was eight. Kagan has been with her the past seven years. Jane Pauley, the host, introduced the piece, which thrilled Kagan.
"I have been trying to get in with them for two years and was told it was impossible," said Kagan, a nationally syndicated columnist whose column was in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for several years and an Atlanta-based CNN anchor from 1994 to 2006. "I was told it's its own little fiefdom. You can't get in."
"CBS Sunday Morning" goes by its own pulse, a far cry from the fast-paced, Trump-obsessed cable news world. "It's quality. It's often uplifting, even the hard topics it looks at. And it's long form," Kagan said. "It fills your spirit and puts you in the right mood on Sunday mornings."
She needed to get a video in front of "CBS Sunday Morning" executive producer Rand Morrison, the gate keeper. So she said she decided to take the "Field of Dreams" approach: build it and they will come. She bought a black bed sheet from Target and taped her own video about Mother's Day. Now she needed to get it to Morrison but how?
On Linkedin, she said she had five people in common with Morrison. She reached out to one of them she thought just might help her out, a former boss of hers. And lucky her: they were good friends and he convinced Morrison to watch the video. Soon after, the "CBS Morning News" producers created the professional video that ended up airing on Sunday.
Kagan is now in the door at "CBS Sunday Morning" and hopes to have more opportunities down the road to do commentaries. "They've asked for other suggestions so fingers crossed," Kagan said. "That's where I want to be. Do your dream job and stay in Atlanta. Check and check!"
