The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker shared grim news with some staffers this past week.
On the same day Turner CEO John Martin sent a memo to all Turner Broadcasting employees hinting at layoffs to help create a more “streamlined, nimble and efficient company,” Zucker told employees CNN will be affected. “We are going to do less and have to do it with less,” he said in a Tuesday morning call with employees. The Journal-Constitution has a partial transcript.
“We now have a sense of what Turner is expecting from CNN. I am working with the senior management team at CNN to figure out what this means for us. This will result in changes and what we do and what we stop doing. We need to continue to protect what we’ve been doing so brilliantly for the last few months. We need to have the ability to do what we’ve been doing. On the other hand, we are faced with reality, we are going to have to do what we do with less. As a result, that means there will be changes. No final decisions have been made. I will be meeting with senior management of CNN. You will hear from your manager in the next week or so.”
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Zucker will certainly want to protect CNN’s investment in original series and documentaries; the type of programming he’s gone all in on since taking the reins last year. Which departments and programming are affected by cuts remains to be seen.
We’ve reached out to CNN on reports of impending layoffs, but haven’t heard back yet.