CNN headquarters|PHOTO COURTESY|
Cable News Network (CNN) which has about 3500 employees worldwide is set to lay a hundred employees this week as a part of strategic transformation following the 2024 presidential inauguration.
These layoff comes as CNN is pivoting towards digital subscriptions, anticipating that their esteemed viewers will pay $3.99/month for what they used to access freely.
“The cuts will help in lowering production costs and consolidate teams,” Said the anonymous reporters.
Additionally, most of its shows based in New York and Washington DC are likely to be moved to its headquarters in Atlanta, in order to reduce the network’s overheard in the high cost cities and make production relatively cheap.
CNN has undergone several rounds of layoff, under the leadership of their CEO, Mark Thompson who took over the network during the summer of 2023 and has since then initiated multiple attempts to reinvent the corperate media outlet. Apart from having the opinion section of the website shuttered, a series of the longtime hosts and journalists have been pushed or have willingly headed to the exit after Thompson cut down programming budgets.
CNN also assured people that the cut off won’t affect its most recognizable names who are under contract.
“We received an investment of more than $70 million from Warner Bros Discovery to help fund the company’s digital operations, part of it will be used to hire employees in areas where we see potential growth avenues, such as data scientists and product development,” Thompson revealed during a town hall meeting earlier this month.
The company launched a digital paywall that charges CNN fanatics $3.99 per month
Americans, however, had contentious opinions regarding this move.
“ This is what happens when you run a business model that centres around lying to your customer base, the media’s legacy end is near,” Klay Thompson commented.
“ I’m surprised it took this long. Those 10 viewers that watch must be donating a lot of money to the network,” Rahl said.
“ It’s interesting to see how traditional outlets like CNN are adapting to the rise of digital media,” Dylan added.
Most of them were satirical about CNN’s downfall and called it a media outlet that propagates propaganda.
Additionally, NBC news is also planning to execute some lay-offs by the end of this week. Even though the exact number of people to be retrenched has not be determined yet, it is expected to stay under 50. However, none of the CNN or NBC spokesperson has commented.
Leave a comment