CNN’s parent company WarnerMedia is having roughly 100 employees accept the company’s voluntary buyouts. They include vp and west/midwest bureau chief Pete Janos, who oversees LA, San Francisco, Denver, Chicago and Mexico City.
Janos joined CNN’s Chicago bureau as a producer/editor in 1985, where he covered many major breaking news events such as the Challenger explosion, Presidential debates, 50th Anniversary of attack on Pearl Harbor, the Richard Nixon Funeral, and the first ever live broadcast from atop Mount Rushmore. In 1994 he was asked to Executive Produce CNN’s coverage of the O.J. Simpson trial.
In 2003 Janos took over Bureau Chief duties for the Los Angeles bureau and shortly thereafter his responsibilities expanded to the entire West Coast. He oversaw all of CNN’s entertainment newsgathering; from Oscars and Grammys to the Sundance film fest.
In 2013, Janos was promoted to vp and regional bureau chief. He expanded CNN’s West Coast presence by opening the network’s Denver bureau. In 2017, he relocated and renovated a new studio and newsroom at the Chicago bureau
MaryLynn Ryan, vp and southeast U.S. bureau chief, is also accepting the voluntary buyout. She leads the network’s news coverage for the Atlanta, Miami and Dallas bureaus, with her teams concentrating on news in the Southeast, the Gulf Coast and Texas.
She and her team were recently awarded an Edward R. Murrow for their coverage of the Charlotte Riots in 2016.
Ryan joined CNN in 1995 as a producer for CNN’s interactive TalkBack Live, where she managed the program’s coverage of the Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta and helped the newsroom team that won an Emmy for its coverage.
CNN International evp and managing director Tony Maddox is also taking the buyout. Maddox called CNN home for 21 years. He joined CNN in 1998 after a lengthy run at BBC.
Based at CNN Atlanta HQ, Maddox has been responsible for an international news and information portfolio that includes five CNN services in English; CNN en Español; the joint ventures CNN-News18, CNN Turk, CNN Chile, CNN Philippines and CNN Indonesia, as well as international newsgathering, editorial and programming oversight.
TVNewser obtained a note that Maddox sent internally to staff:
A NOTE FROM TONY MADDOX
MONDAY, MAY 6, 2019
After 21 years I am leaving CNN.
It has been the honor of my life to work for, and then lead CNN International. What a privilege to make a living doing such important work with truly outstanding people.
I always feel enormous pride when I say I am with CNN. This really is a remarkable company. Working for it is real life, amplified. Everything is more intense, vivid, and in the end, so rewarding.
And now, I am ready for a rest.
If I start picking out all the folks who have made this so special, this will be a very long and boring note. But those of you who I have had the opportunity to work with closely should know how much you mean to me. It is these extraordinary relationships that ultimately make these jobs so worthwhile.
So let me close with a broad, and truly sincere, thank you.
Tony