CNN's CEO Chris Licht informed staff that layoffs are starting to take place within the company. This move marks "the organization's largest cuts in years."
Last October, the new boss, who became president of the network in May, warned that the company would undergo "significant changes" that would affect "people, budgets and projects" and leave many employees feeling "uneasy." He cited "widespread concern about the global economic outlook."
Reduction of personnel
In a memo, Licht described the staff layoffs as a "punch in the gut," and told employees that "it is incredibly difficult to say goodbye to any one team member and it is much more difficult when there are several."
The cuts in the organization come after CNN's parent company, WarnerMedia, merged earlier this year with Discovery, creating Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) "a media giant strapped with billions of dollars in debt and the need to cut costs across the board." David Zaslav, CEO of WBD, promised investors savings of more than $3 billion.
Licht, upon taking over as director of the chain, initiated a months-long review of the business. According to him, this is how he identified the changes that needed to be made, including layoffs. The CEO acknowledged that this move "will affect both our colleagues who are leaving and those who are staying" and promised to provide employees with "resources designed to support them."
"Leftism lowered its gains"
"The network is on track to fall below $1 billion in profits for the first time in years, amid sharp declines in television viewership," The New York Times reported.
Mamela Fiallo Flor, journalist of the Panam Post, pointed out that "the company should evaluate whether distancing its content from leftist activism produces profits."
The economic impact suffered by the corporation is one of the main reasons for these changes. According to S&P Global Market Intelligence projections, CNN's earnings are expected to fall below $1 billion. The last time the network saw earnings below $1 billion was in 2016.
Licht "already made it clear to his employees ... that reforms will happen. And they probably won't like them." The president has been criticized for his attempt to change the political leanings of the media and lower the tone of opinions.
The network aslo cancelled the program Reliable Sources and let go of host Brian Stelter, one of the most radical progressive journalists in the field. A source told Deadline that the decision to fire Stelter "came from the top," adding, "if this isn't coming from John Malone directly, it sure represents his thinking with lieutenants doing his bidding."
Malone and CNN's return "to the journalism that it started with"
John Malone is a shareholder of WBD and by extension CNN, Warner and Discovery. Earlier this year, the billionaire said the network will "go back to the kind of journalism that it started with." In addition, Malone was an ally of former President Donald Trump. In 2017, he donated $250,000 to his campaign.
CNN's chairman and CEO Chris Licht told anxious staffers Friday that more changes are coming to CNN, as he addressed the news of Brian Stelter's exit following the cancellation of his Sunday show 'Reliable Sources' https://t.co/KFu0Ds6D5g
- Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) August 19, 2022
When it came to laying off Stelter, Malone told The New York Times that he had "nothing to do" with that or with the program's cancellation. He also stated that he wants "some of CNN news to be more centrist," but that he is not "in control" or "directly involved."
A "more centrist" alternative
Among his changes, Licht put some demands on the table:
- He wants to make CNN hosts aware that they sometimes seem to underestimate people.
- "Let the panelists' conversations be informative and not dominated by extreme viewpoints."
- "Let the 'breaking news' banner only be used for real news":"We are truth-tellers, focused on informing, not alarming our viewers."
- "Let more Republicans be interviewed."
"Being seen as a liberal alternative to Fox News isn't an issue for a news outlet that plays up partisanship. But for a company that has sold itself as an unbiased news source for more than 40 year, that presents a problem," claimed The Los Angeles Times.
