Wednesday was a rough day for CNN. Today will be even worse.
Long anticipated layoffs are underway.
How bad is it? It’s being described as a “gut punch.” And that’s coming from the man in charge of the network. Chris Licht, who took over as CNN’s chief executive in May, sent a memo to staff on Wednesday. He wrote, “It is incredibly hard to say goodbye to any one member of the CNN team, much less many. I recently described this process as a gut punch, because I know that is how it feels for all of us.”
In his note, Licht wrote that Wednesday’s layoffs involved a limited number of people — mostly paid contributors. Today’s layoffs, Licht wrote, will impact full-time employees. CNN’s Oliver Darcy wrote the cuts are “expected to impact hundreds of staffers at the global news network and mark the deepest cuts to the organization in years.”
CNN is estimated to have around 4,000 employees.
The New York Times’ Benjamin Mullin wrote, “The cuts will affect a broad swath of employees, according to two people with knowledge of the decision. Executives have discussed cutting $100 million in costs, but Mr. Licht has said he would try to preserve news gathering jobs. The network’s most high-profile anchors are not expected to be affected.”
It’s a dicey time for CNN as the network tries to adjust to new ownership (Warner Bros. Discovery) and a relatively new boss in Licht, who is hoping to shift the network’s coverage to have more mass appeal. According to Nielsen, CNN’s total viewership numbers trail chief competitors MSNBC and Fox News, although CNN is competing with MSNBC in the important 24-to-54 demographic.
As the Wall Street Journal’s Joseph De Avila notes, “Warner Bros. Discovery has already laid off about 1,000 employees since April as the company cuts costs and grapples with high debt. Those cuts included staffers at HBO, the Warner Bros. movie and television production units and previous reductions at CNN.”
Earlier this year, CNN's much-ballyhooed streaming service, CNN+, was shut down less than a month after its launch. And Licht, by that point, had already warned that deep cuts were coming.
Then in mid November, Licht told podcaster Kara Swisher, “Look, these are my cuts. I own this. This is my strategy and if I thought that there was a cut that ... I thought would be ... not in the interest of this company, I would push back hard. And I've not had to do that.”
Darcy wrote, “CNN, which still posts profits in the hundreds of millions of dollars, was spared from the cuts that wreaked havoc on the industry during the pandemic. Prior to this year, the last major cuts to occur at the organization were in 2018 when fewer than 50 people lost their jobs as the company restructured its digital business.”
But these cuts, no doubt, are severe.
Licht told staff in his memo, “It will be a difficult time for everyone.” He added, “I know these changes affect both our departing colleagues and those who remain, and we have resources designed to support you. … Let’s take care of each other this week.”
More cuts
CNN wasn’t the only major media outlet to have grim news on Wednesday. The Washington Post announced it is ending the print version of The Washington Post Magazine. The last print issue will be Christmas Day. The magazine has 10 staff members, and the Post confirmed in several reports that those positions are being eliminated.
In an email sent to staff on Wednesday, Post executive editor Sally Buzbee wrote, “Earlier today we met with The Washington Post Magazine team to inform them that we will end the print Sunday Magazine in its current form as we continue to undergo our global and digital transformation.”
Buzbee’s note added the Post “will be shifting some of the most popular content, and adding more, in a revitalized Style section that will launch in the coming months.” The Washington Post’s Sarah Ellison, who has more on this story, reported that the Sunday magazine launched in its current form in 1986.
Ellison pointed out that, “Five of the 40 Washington Post stories that drew the most online readers over the past year were produced by the magazine. They include a profile of then-Senate candidate J.D. Vance, the tangled saga of several separated siblings reunited through DNA testing, and longtime staff writer David Montgomery’s portrait of the shifting political demographic in Wyoming, ‘the Trumpiest state in the nation,’ as its voters turned on Rep. Liz Cheney.”
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