CNN Laying Off More Staffers
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CNN is laying off around 100 staffers CNN CEO Mark Thompson announced.
Thompson wrote, “Wherever possible, we’ve closed open positions rather than target currently occupied roles. However, some of our colleagues will learn today that their jobs are being eliminated or are at risk.
Layoffs will once again hit CNN as the cable news channel reorganizes in a push to expand its digital businesses.
CNN CEO Mark Thompson outlined his digital vision in a lengthy memo to staff Wednesday morning, announcing plans to build a flurry of digital products, including a subscription offering before the end of the year, plans to launch other paid offerings built around lifestyle journalism and a “strategic push into AI.”
In his note, Thompson said that about 100 roles will be cut, representing just shy of 3 percent of CNN’s workforce. He will host a town hall with staff later in the day to further elaborate on the plan.
“Wherever possible, we’ve closed open positions rather than target currently occupied roles,” Thompson wrote. “However, some of our colleagues will learn today that their jobs are being eliminated or are at risk.”
Thompson intends to build a digital subscription business for CNN.
Thompson’s announcement that he intends to build a digital subscription business generating more than a billion dollars in revenue represents a cornerstone of his strategy to “future-proof” CNN. A direct-to-consumer subscription product has long been seen by CNN’s leaders as the answer to shrinking revenues brought on by the decline of linear television.
