Layoffs Happening At CNN

CNN is planning to wield the axe on some of its high-paid staff after dismal election ratings that cap off a disastrous period for the cable news network. According to an explosive new report from Puck, network executives will unleash sweeping lay-offs in a bid to save the network’s flailing reputation. It comes after the departure of stalwart Chris Wallace, and amid reports senior stars like Wolf Blitzer and Jake Tapper have both been denied raises. There is no mention of who may be on the chopping block.

The highest paid stars include Anderson Cooper – who rakes in $20million a year – Erin Burnett ($6million) and rising star Kaitlan Collins ($3million). ‘In the next few months, I’m told, CNN will implement another round of layoffs that will impact hundreds of employees across the organization,’ reporter Dylan Byers wrote Friday, referencing CNN’s recent 100-person layoff seen over the summer. The fresh round of firings, the insiders said, will be more geared toward the production side of things.

Byers wrote: ‘Redundant assignments will be nixed, and various divisions will be reduced or even eliminated.

Sources who spoke to the reporter, who worked at CNN for three years before founding Puck, added how the looming layoffs are part of an overarching plan – one that puts a premium on the station’s digital platforms. The man behind it, they said, is none other than new CEO Mark Thompson – the former New York Times boss brought in to overhaul the network under its Warner Bros. Discovery parent.