CNN is cutting jobs. “Media organisation makes people redundant” is hardly revelatory in 2024, but this move includes closing down its CNN opinion section. Claire Atkinson exclusively revealed a memo from boss Mark Thompson and reported on the end of the comment section.
Churning out comment pieces is generally cheaper than reporting. However, if you want to refocus a news organisation, I guess you can see why that is the bit that would be sacrificed, particularly heading into a Presidential election. Hopefully, at least some of the journalists in that team will be reassigned within the organisation
The broadcaster’s viewing numbers are not great, although it boasted back in April that “among adults 25-54, CNN ranked in the Top 10 among all cable networks for the quarter.” It added that it “reached the most viewers in cable news in Q1 2024 among both P2+ and P25-54 (P2+: CNN: 44.0m, Fox News: 43.4m, MSNBC: 34.9m; P25-54: CNN: 11.6m, Fox News: 10.6m, MSNBC: 8.8m).” Again, this is likely to be helped by Joe Biden(?) vs Donald Trump round two.
Importantly, I think for many of us, certainly outside of the US, some of the reputation remains. CNN is one of the news organisations I trust when abroad or when big moments in the US are happening. This reorganisation gets to a deeper issue though. What is CNN actually… for?
No CNN Opinion in New Look Outlet
During his disastrous reign, Chris Licht tried to stop the perception that the organisation was leftie/pro-Democrat. It was a response to Jeff Zucker, who saw the value in punchy opinion, namely rallying against President Donald Trump. That didn’t end well, although that was arguably more down to Licht as an individual than his ideas.
Clearly Thompson also doesn’t want CNN to look in any way like MSNBC either. He’s probably not that sad if pieces like “Why Trump can’t twist the immunity ruling to squirm out of his classified documents indictment” or “Trump’s move to the center is stunningly transparent” stop appearing on the website. AI appears a lot in the memo too. Of course.
While I think we can safely assume that big-name commentators will not stop giving their opinions on CNN’s airwaves, it does seem a shame that the written work will be winding down. Far be it for me to lecture Mark Thompson on how to run a major media company, but I also can’t help but wonder if it is cutting off part of the subscription funnel. Do people head to the website to read a rousing piece and then sign up for a Live TV subscription?
Either way, the ongoing psychodrama that is CNN is starting to move into its next phase.