Happy New Year 2025

Tag: CNN

  • Layoffs hit CNN, 6% of staff terminated

    Layoffs hit CNN, 6% of staff terminated

    Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., give their take on federal DEI offices shutting down under the Trump administration on The Bottom Line.

    Long-planned layoffs officially hit CNN on Thursday when roughly 6% of the network’s workforce was let go. 

    CNN has painted the layoffs as a critical step toward securing the network’s future, telling staffers that “irreversible shifts in the way audiences in America and around the world consume news” have impacted its business model. About 200 jobs were eliminated as a result. 

    “Our objective is a simple one: to shift CNN’s gravity towards the platforms and products where the audience themselves are shifting and, by doing that, to secure CNN’s future as one of the world’s greatest news organizations,” CNN CEO Mark Thompson said in an internal memo obtained by Fox News Digital. 

    CNN TO LAY OFF ‘HUNDREDS’ OF STAFFERS IN FIRST DAYS OF SECOND TRUMP PRESIDENCY: REPORTS

    CNN terminated about 200 employees on Thursday.  ( Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

    “America and the world need high quality, fair-minded, trustworthy sources of news more than ever,” Thompson continued. “This difficult and sometimes painful process of change is the only way to make sure we can still provide it.”

    On-air talent is not expected to be impacted by the cuts. 

    CNN pointed to a $70 million investment from parent company Warner Bros. Discovery that will eventually result in new job opportunities. Thompson said Thursday’s cuts are “first and foremost about investing in that future,” and suggested overall headcount won’t drop too much in 2025 when plans are finalized. 

    “That’s because of the $70 million we’re investing in our digital plans and the many new jobs it will pay for. Some of that money’s going in product and tech, but a lot is also going into new high-quality journalism and storytelling. It’s what we stand for,” Thompson wrote.  

    PLAINTIFF IN CNN DEFAMATION TRIAL CELEBRATES ‘VINDICATION’ FOLLOWING COURTROOM DRAMA: ‘I’M GLAD IT’S OVER’

    Business-Layoffs

    Long-planned layoffs officially hit CNN on Thursday when roughly 6% of the network’s workforce was let go.  (Getty / Getty Images)

    “It’s also the heart of every successful digital news strategy. At the same time, I know that whatever the total number of job losses, the impact on the individuals involved can be immense,” he continued. “The process of change is essential if we’re to thrive in the future, but I both acknowledge and regret its very real human consequences.”

    Thompson called the cuts “an unwelcome but inevitable part of the change process.”

    “We will aim to contact every colleague who will be impacted by these changes as soon as we possibly can – and will of course help and support them in any way we can thereafter,” Thompson wrote.  

    CNN has struggled in the ratings department for years and finished 2024 with its smallest audience in network history among both total day viewers and among the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults aged 25-54. 

    Kamala Harris CNN town hall

    Vice President Kamala Harris speaks as CNN moderator Anderson Cooper looks on during a Presidential Town Hall event at Sun Center Studios on October 23, 2024 in Aston, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) (Getty Images)

    Fox News Digital previously reported in November that CNN would face major layoffs by March and that its impact on the network would be “very meaningful.”

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    Fox News Digital’s Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report. 

  • Layoffs hit CNN, 6% of staff terminated

    CNN to lay off ‘hundreds’ of staffers in first days of second Trump presidency: reports

    Fox News contributor Steve Hilton reacts to JD Vance’s exchange with CNN’s Jake Tapper over the real issues facing Americans on ‘The Big Money Show.’

    CNN is reportedly set to lay off “hundreds” of employees in the early days of President Trump’s second administration. 

    Puck reported CNN CEO Mark Thompson will announce to his staff about the network cuts on Thursday morning while CNBC reported that the layoffs “won’t affect CNN’s most recognizable names, who are under contract,” according to sources. 

    CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

    Fox News Digital previously reported in November that CNN would face major layoffs by March and that its impact on the network would be “very meaningful.” 

    CNN STAFFERS ‘DEEPLY FRUSTRATED’ AS LOOMING BUDGET CUTS, LAYOFFS SET TO IMPACT STRUGGLING NETWORK

    CNN is reportedly set to lay off “hundreds” of employees in the early days of the second Trump administration.  ( Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

    “I am overall very sad and deeply frustrated,” the longtime CNN staffer told Fox News Digital. “Feelings which are pervasive throughout the organization among those who have been here a long time and feel a deep personal connection to having helped build the organization.”

    “It’s a time of a complete and utter business model overhaul and chaos. Extremely difficult even under the best circumstances,” the CNN staffer added. 

    PLAINTIFF IN CNN DEFAMATION TRIAL CELEBRATES ‘VINDICATION’ FOLLOWING COURTROOM DRAMA: ‘I’M GLAD IT’S OVER’

    Another CNN employee cited Thompson, who has been on the job for just over a year and has been outspoken about how the company will have to undergo big changes to survive. 

    “I am worried because the industry is obviously in trouble… I’m sure there will be cuts,” the second CNN staffer told Fox News Digital. 

    CNN headquarters

    Fox News Digital previously reported that CNN staffers was bracing for mass layoffs to be implemented by March. ( John Greim/LightRocket via Getty Images) / Getty Images)

    The employee suspected “more shows will be streamlined and produced out of Atlanta” and that those impacted the most are the “expensive” shows being produced in New York City. 

    CNN’s financial struggles were put under the spotlight last week after a jury found the network had defamed a Navy veteran and approved that he could seek punitive damages. The legal battle resulted in a settlement. 

    CNN DEFAMATION TRIAL: LOSING CASE EXPECTED BUT STILL A BAD BRUISE FOR THE NETWORK, INSIDER SAYS

    Forensic economist Robert W. Johnson, who was hired by the plaintiff’s legal time to assess CNN’s finances, testified CNN was worth $4.4 billion in 2021 but dropped to $2.3 billion in 2023, according to provided tax documents from the network. 

    Johnson’s data also showed that CNN’s revenue dropped from $2.2 billion in 2021 to $1.8 billion in 2023. CNN’s net income over the same period dropped from $0.6 billion in 2021 to $0.4 billion in 2023. 

    A Florida jury found that CNN defamed U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young last week, allowing a rare peak into the network’s books that reveal its net worth was cut in half from 2021 to 2023.

    Forensic economist Robert W. Johnson analyzed CNN’s declining revenue during a defamation trial against the network last week. (Fox News Digital / Fox News)

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

    Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this report.