Thompson's shortest story
One-time NYPD Blue actress leaves CNN's Headline News
By Allison Romano -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/18/2002
After about seven months, CNN Headline News' starlet anchor Andrea Thompson is abandoning the quicky news channel.
Her defection comes as a surprise after CNN execs, led by then-Headline News chief Teya Ryan, stuck by the actress-turned-anchor last summer when critics questioned her credentials and nude photos of her surfaced on the Internet.
CNN revealed Thompson's resignation last Thursday, just weeks after Ryan moved over to the CNN mothership to become executive vice president and general manager and former CNN en Español head Rolando Santos took her spot at Headline News. Thompson, who once starred on NYPD Blue, anchored a live segment from 6 to 10 p.m. and will be replaced by anchor Sophia Choi.
When Headline News relaunched last August with a cast of new talent, Thompson stole the spotlight. CNN handed her a plum prime time anchor slot even though her only news experience was a year-long stint as a reporter for KRQE-TV, the CBS affiliate in Albuquerque, N.M.
Thompson, who no doubt found live anchoring grueling, had been contemplating her future at CNN for several weeks. "It is time for me to make a change in my daily professional life," she said in a statement.
She was more comfortable as a reporter than as an anchor. She broke numerous stories and worked as hard as anyone else, said KRQE-TV Director of News and Station Operations Dan Salamone. "She was pushed ahead a little too quickly in her career [at CNN]. I don't blame her entirely for that."
