CNN boss Mark Thompson reportedly plans to announce mass layoffs Thursday – just days after he warned top on-air talent including Jake Tapper and Anderson Cooper that they ought to avoid “pre-judging” President Donald Trump.
The ratings-challenge cable news pioneer will lay off hundreds of employees as it refocuses the business around a global digital audience, CNBC reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The job cuts come as CNN, owned by Warner Bros Discovery, looks to rearrange its linear TV lineup and build out digital subscription products, CNBC said, adding that it will help CNN lower production costs and consolidate teams.
Some shows produced in New York or Washington may move to Atlanta, where production can be done more cheaply, the report said.
NBC News, owned by Comcast, is also planning job cuts later this week, according to the report. While there is no exact number, the layoffs will be well under 50.
Comcast and Warner Bros Discovery did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Washington Post, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, said earlier this month it would lay off about 4% of its workforce or less than 100 employees in a bid to cut costs, as the storied newspaper grapples with growing losses.
In November, the Associated Press said it would cut about 8% of its workforce as it looks to modernize its operations and products.
News of CNN’s culling comes after Thompson reportedly cautioned staffers “against expressing any outrage of their own” during the inauguration.
Thompson, the former BBC and New York Times executive, convened a virtual editorial meeting Sunday that included Tapper, Cooper and scores of other senior news personalities to discuss CNN’s coverage of the inaugural ceremonies that took place the next day in Washington, DC, according to the Status newsletter.
During the meeting, Thompson “made it clear that he did not want the coverage to relitigate the past,” according to Status reporter Oliver Darcy — an allusion to CNN’s historically hostile relationship with Trump.
Thompson asked his charges to avoid editorializing as well as to steer coverage away from focusing on Trump’s legal problems, including convictions for falsifying business documents related to the alleged Stormy Daniels “hush money” payment, according to the report.
Instead, he urged CNN staffers to focus on Trump’s second term and to be “open-minded” about the next four years, according to Status.
A CNN spokesperson declined to comment.
At the end of the call, Thompson reportedly opened the floor to allow staffers to ask questions, but nobody spoke up, the report said.
“What Thompson and other top brass had communicated was clear and none of the meeting participants apparently had the desire to question the guidance,” Darcy wrote.
On Tuesday, Thompson convened yet another virtual editorial call to reiterate his message.
Thompson told CNN staff that they should remain “tough-minded” in coverage while at the same time being “fair-minded,” according to Status.
During the call, Virginia Moseley, CNN’s executive editor, joked that CNN was “out of practice” handling the relentless news cycle generated by Trump, a challenge that will quickly intensify in the coming years.
Thompson’s strategy marks a shift in the network’s coverage of Trump under former CNN boss Jeff Zucker.
CNN has struggled to keep up with MSNBC and Fox News in the ratings race — which was reflected in the numbers for the inauguration.
Fox News, which shares common ownership with The Post, dominated television viewership during Trump’s inauguration, drawing 10.3 million viewers between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. ET, surpassing all other networks.
ABC (with 4.7 million viewers), NBC (4.4 million) and CBS (4.1 million) followed.
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