Holocaust Museum’s Board
The CNN workforce is about 3,500.
They will be added to the CNN and CNN International FAST channels.
Thompson had signaled staff reductions in a previous memo as it restructures its operations.
Mark ThompsonPhoto by John Lamparski/Getty Images for Advertising Week New York
He wrote, Wherever possible, weve closed open positions rather than target currently occupied roles.
However, some of our colleagues will learn today that their jobs are being eliminated or are at risk.
The5 Thingsseries will be extended on Max and to an on-demand show on CNN.com.
Charlie Moore will oversee primetime, working with Eric Sherling, executive vice president of programming.
It was also a perfect example of everything CNN stands for.
Some of these plans will require investment and there will be new roles and opportunities in many areas.
But were also closing some posts and youll read about those in this memo as well.
Turning a great news organization towards the future is not a one-day affair.
It happens in stages and over time.
Todays announcements do not answer every question or seek to solve every challenge we face.
However, theydorepresent a significant step forward and I hope you will read about them in that spirit.
A GLOBAL INTEGRATED MULTIMEDIA NEWS OPERATION
CNN has historically had three separate newsrooms and multiple planning operations.
They will alert incoming video to the connection for use on all platforms, TV and digital.
These leads will be placed in all major CNN bureaus around the world.
This will give us full visibility into everything from editorial and logistics to resources and budgets.
We implemented this reform several weeks ago and have already seen significant positive results.
We will streamline and standardize story-pitching.
We know that stories are pitched in many different ways across teams and departments.
BUILDING A BILLION DOLLAR PLUS DIGITAL BUSINESS
CNN is already the largest branded digital news destination in the world.
As well as amazing reach, we have many millions of deeply engaged loyal users.
We will develop new digital products with a special focus on digital experiences worth paying for.
Second, we will lean more heavily into video in our digital products.Our products today are primarily reading experiences.
We will work closely with the new ideas labs being created in both the News and TV organizations.
To me, the right response to this revolution is not despair but adaptation and innovation.
Our experimentation with formats like5 Thingson Max and now CNN.com is a good recent example.
Wherever possible, weve closed open positions rather than target currently occupied roles.
However, some of our colleagues will learn today that their jobs are being eliminated or are at risk.
