On Thursday, CNN initiated the layoffs that CEO Chris Licht foreshadowed the day prior in an email sent to staff.
Chris Cillizza, a political reporter and editor-at-large, Martin Savidge, Alex Field, Mary Anne Fox, and Alison Kosik were among the most recognizable names let go by the network. HLN, the subsidiary network formerly known as CNN Headline News, is expected to be scaled back significantly and will no longer feature live programming as a result of the cuts, according to Variety.
Licht had told employees that the layoffs would have far-reaching consequences for “both our departing colleagues and those who remain.”
“It is incredibly hard to say goodbye to any one member of the CNN team, much less many. I recently described this process as a gut punch, because I know that is how it feels for all of us,” wrote Licht, who had previously hinted at the restructuring in an October memo.
“When we emerge on the other side, CNN will be a stronger, more nimble organization, ready to weather whatever the global economy throws at us and to grow into the future,” argued Licht at the time.
Licht is reportedly seeking to turn the network away from punditry and back toward its roots as a reporting-centric outlet. Earlier this year, CNN let go of longtime anchor Brian Stelter, who was widely seen by media observers as one of the network’s most stridently partisan progressives.
Cilizza’s exit is perhaps the most surprising of the reported cuts to this point, given his prominent role at the outlet, where he was given his own vertical, The Point, and hosted its Downside Up podcast.