Sign up for The Media Today, CJR’s daily newsletter.
Flower power The flower room at High Country Healing, a dispensary in Colorado Springs. Growers there inspect each plant at least once a day. (Triple Threat TV)
Cable news is doing drugs. On November 30, MSNBC began airing a six-part documentary series on the fledgling weed industry, Pot Barons of Colorado. Its debut came a little over a month after CNN unveiled plans for its own pot-umentary, High Profits. Both shows illustrate not only cable news’ new penchant for longform, but also how entrepreneurs intend to cash in on Colorado’s green rush. “This is a massive industry in the making,” says Gary Cohen, executive producer, writer, and narrator of the MSNBC series. “These people are competing for the same giant checks.”
CNN’s eight-part series will feature a duo’s quest to become marijuana moguls, while “Pot Barons” introduces viewers to a handful of small businesses owners–present-day 49ers–including one aiming to create the “Costco of marijuana” and another the “Apple store of weed.” “We knew we’d also come into contact with all the other aspects of the story–the customers, the culture, everything,” adds Scott Hooker, senior executive producer of longform programming at MSNBC. “That all found its way in through the business angle.”
Cohen, who began shooting for the show in February, said the tenor of media coverage of Colorado’s nascent market has already changed since prohibition ended in January 2014, from general skepticism of legalization to focused skepticism of specific regulations or business practices. And just as entrepreneurs see the new industry as a potentially lucrative venture, so too do news organizations eager to tell that story. “This is as ideal a canvas I’ve experienced in my career as a storyteller,” Cohen says.
“Wherever you live, if you’re interested in this story–and a lot of people seem to be–there are local angles,” he says. “One town at a time, America is changing on this.”
David Uberti is a writer in New York. He was previously a media reporter for Gizmodo Media Group and a staff writer for CJR. Follow him on Twitter @DavidUberti.