In June of this year, CNN CEO Chris Licht told employees that there were no impending layoffs coming to the network. Turns out, that was just more CNN fake news.
In a town hall with employees on Tuesday, Licht shared that the network is facing layoffs as early as December.
Licht has overseen the shutdown of CNN+ in 2022 and a purge of company veterans such as Brian Stelter, Jeffrey Toobin and John Harwood.
He reportedly did not get into specifics about the layoffs but said teams that are not deemed essential to the network’s ‘core mission’ were on the chopping block.
‘As it relates to CNN, there are no layoffs per se. A layoff is a downsizing, where you are given a target, and that is not happening at CNN,’ Licht said at a staff-wide event in June.
Then, in October, he wrote a memo that stated ‘changes’ that affect ‘people, budgets and projects’ were coming and said there will be a ‘noticeable change to this organization.’
‘There is widespread concern over the global economic outlook, and we must factor that risk into our long-term planning. All this together will mean noticeable change to this organization. That, by definition, is unsettling. These changes will not be easy because they will affect people, budgets, and projects,’ he said.
Licht said during the meeting that there are no plans for future layoffs beyond those in early December ‘at this time.’
A CNN staffer during the meeting said they had been with the company for 20 years and had never seen morale lower than it was right now.
CNN has already made a number of big staffing changes over the last six months that have left employees on edge.
Media reporter Brian Stelter was let go. Don Lemon was demoted to a morning show. Toxic host Tiffany Cross did not have her contract renewed.
And CNN has faced repeated failures of late. Ratings are in a free fall across the board for the network, and their foray into the digital space bombed spectacularly. The much hyped, and costly, CNN+ streaming service went belly up less than a month after launch and after hemorrhaging $100 million dollars.
With layoffs underway at major networks and social media platforms, Democrats are losing some of their most loyal and entrenched cheerleaders.