Atlanta-based CNN cuts about 100 jobs, plans to launch digital subscriptions before year-end – WABE

CNN is cutting about 100 jobs and plans to launch its first digital subscriptions before the end of the year as the news network works to reshape its business.

In a memo sent to staff on Wednesday, CNN CEO Mark Thompson said the network would cut only 100 jobs out of a total workforce of about 3,500. He added that vacant positions were being closed where possible to minimize the total number of layoffs.

Media organizations, including CNN, have struggled to grow their audiences and revenues and have sought to diversify what they offer their customers.

Thompson said CNN’s digital strategy must be “ambitious enough to deliver the audiences and revenue we need to maintain our unique journalistic power and succeed as a business.”

The CEO said CNN would create out-of-the-box products that would offer news, analysis and context in new formats. He stressed that efforts would be made to keep users on the CNN.com website longer and to find ways to entice them to return more often.

While CNN’s digital products have focused primarily on text articles, Thompson said there will be a shift toward more video content.

“Going forward, our digital products will need to do a much better job of reflecting CNN’s massive strength in video and anchor/reporter talent,” Thompson said.

The organization will also develop more “useful news” for its audience, with lifestyle and feature content. Thompson said these products will provide the company with a variety of monetization opportunities, including sponsorships, new advertising and direct-to-consumer subscriptions.

CNN will also be looking more into artificial intelligence, Thompson said, and will explore how it can safely use the technology to serve its audience.

Thompson, a former BBC and New York Times chief executive, was named CNN’s new CEO in August 2023 and took office in October. He replaced Chris Licht, who was fired in June of that year. Thompson helped transition the Times to a digital-first organization, more reliant on paying subscribers than the collapse of the advertising market that has doomed many newspapers.

In January, Thompson presented his team with a strategy that included a “drastic modernization” of the CNN.com website.