New CNN CEO Tells Employees the Company Is 'Nowhere Near Ready for the Future' on His First Day
CNN’s new chief executive told staffers on Monday that the company is “nowhere near ready for the future” during his first day on the job.
Mark Thompson, CNN’s third CEO in less than two years, started his era off with an introductory video, and Thompson’s remarks were shared by network senior media reporter Oliver Darcy in his “Reliable Sources” newsletter.
According to Darcy, Thompson expressed both optimism about CNN’s future and reservations about the state of the struggling network.
After meeting with employees, the CEO said he was “heartened” that so many of them “still believe in CNN and its mission” and that “the world needs news it can trust more than ever.”
But he said the company must adapt to changes in how people consume news and focus on succeeding in an era in which fewer people are watching television.
“I want to add that from now on we must be committed to presenting that news in whatever form, in whatever product, makes most sense for audiences today,” Thompson said, according to Darcy.
“Conventional TV will remain critical, but it can no longer define us,” he said. “It’s one platform in a growing portfolio of platforms.”
On his estimation of where CNN currently stands, he concluded, “The truth is that despite some recent encouraging developments, like the launch of CNN Max, this company is still nowhere near ready for the future.”
“TV is vital … but TV is also too dominant at CNN and digital too marginal,” Thompson said, declaring that CNN’s digital products today “lag well behind the current state of the art” and that he aims to change that.
While CNN is known for its left-wing partisan reporting and an editorial direction that heavily favors Democrats, Thompson said the company will report facts under his direction.
According to Darcy, Thompson would like to see CNN “follow the news wherever it leads us and no matter who it is going to upset.”
“Let’s cover political news proportionately and fairly, but not be frightened by our own shadows,” he said. “We do need to pick up the pace now if we want CNN to be one of the winners in this era of news.”
CNN has struggled to attract viewers since former CEO Jeff Zucker resigned after his romantic relationship with former network executive VP Allison Gollust became public.
Zucker left his job in February 2o22, just weeks after he fired former CNN host Chris Cuomo.
Thompson’s predecessor, Chris Licht, attempted to reboot CNN but to little avail.
Lineup changes and personnel shuffles failed to resonate with viewers.
Licht was fired in June after a rocky tenure that culminated in the network’s ratings bottoming out as well as the ouster of Don Lemon.
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