Thompson joined CNN Headline News as an evening anchor in June 2001. CNN had laid off 400 of 4000 employees in January, and was refocusing on personalities to draw in younger viewers. "A lot of people gave her credit for leaving her career to pursue journalism," said one CNN insider. Her first words on-screen as anchor were "Hi, I'm Andrea Thompson, and unless you've been living in a cave, you probably already know that." Her hiring generated controversy in journalism circles, mostly because Thompson had just one year of journalism experience at that point. Nude pictures and videoclips of Thompson taken from her 1980s-era movies also began circulating on the Internet, causing some embarrassment for CNN. Thompson left the network in March 2002. It was speculated at the time that the long days kept her from her nine-year-old son. During an appearance in January 2003, she made a statement indicating she left CNN because she disagreed with the way the news was handled, "Basically... you just give the viewers enough to scare the hell out of them, and not any real valuable information. And we saw so much of that after Sept. 11 that I thought was, frankly, irresponsible."