Anderson Cooper Says New Show 'The Whole Story' 'Reminds Me A Lot of How I Got Started in News' (Exclusive)

The veteran broadcast journalist spoke exclusively with PEOPLE about his new series The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper, which premieres Sunday on CNN

Anderson Cooper is returning to long-form journalism with a new CNN show.

The veteran broadcast journalist, 55, spoke exclusively with PEOPLE about The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper premiering April 16.

"It's very character-driven stories, special interviews, profiles and investigative deep dives from CNN reporters all over the globe," Cooper says of his weekly one-hour program.

"And it reminds me a lot of how I first got started in the news business," he explains, "which was with a small camera, just going overseas by myself and doing very cinéma vérité, character-driven stories."

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The Vanderbilt author says he's a "big believer in long-form journalism" and notes that there are "fewer and fewer places doing that. So it's awesome that we get to some of the best stories from our correspondents and our anchors all around the world."

Among the journalists that Cooper features on the series is British journalist Nick Paton Walsh, 45, whom he calls a "remarkable reporter" and "great writer, doing incredible work in Ukraine."

"He and his team traveled along the Darién Gap, which is a 66-mile, very dangerous, overland route — the only overland route from South America to Central America," Cooper describes of the premiere episode's subject matter with CNN's International Security Editor. "And tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of migrants have taken that journey for the last several years. And Nick takes the journey and shows what people go through to try to get further north and ultimately to reach the U.S."

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Expanding on his appreciation for in-depth journalism, Cooper shares, "I love being out in the field. I love these kinds of stories and things that don't necessarily fit into an evening newscast or they're bigger than a three-minute piece or something. And it's rare in this day and age that a correspondent who comes across some great story can take a week, or two weeks, or three weeks, or however long it takes to report out and actually shoot a story like this."

Per CNN's March 23 announcement, the network states that The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper is "a collection of unique and immersive single subject, one-hour episodes from CNN's Emmy® and Peabody Award-winning longform storytelling team."

Cooper credits CNN Chairman and CEO Chris Licht for coming up with the idea to create the show and praises their executive producer Susan Chun with whom he's worked for roughly 20 years in the field.

"Powered by CNN's unmatched global journalism operation, The Whole Story goes behind the headlines, touching every continent and corner of the planet, as we bring our viewers into the heart of the essential stories of our time," said Licht last month.

"So, it's exciting," Cooper adds. "It's the kind of thing you don't see much on television these days and, yeah, I'm really proud of it."

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The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper premieres Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on CNN and will stream live for pay TV subscribers via CNN.com and CNN OTT, as well as on mobile apps under "TV Channels" or via CNNgo at the same time as the cable broadcast.

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