The Omicron variant is spreading like wildfire across New York City—and CNN is responding to this trend by closing its offices “to all employees who do not have to be in the office to do their jobs.”
Now, newscasts of course need people in the control room to make sure the broadcast gets on-air, but everyone else at the network will need to go back to working remotely, as per a CNN internal memo. It’s basically a return to 2020 policy, where networks said that only essential staff could be in the office.
Like other major media companies, CNN is making changes due to the new Covid surge. CNN offices are closing “to all employees who do not have to be in the office to do their jobs,” per internal memo tonight. Back to 2020 protocols, essentially.
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) December 19, 2021
“We are doing this out of an abundance of caution,” CNN internal memo adds. “And it will also protect those who will be in the office by minimizing the number of people who are there.” TV news 101: Networks always have to ensure that control rooms and shows can remain on the air.
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) December 19, 2021
No other news network that we know of has taken this step (as of publication time), but we’ll let you know if we hear differently in the coming days.