Trimmed Down CNN - We're Going Forward

In the past year, CNN has fallen behind Fox News Channel and MSNBC in the ratings, had to absorb the AOL Time Warner merger, and lost its president, Rick Kaplan, after his free-spending efforts came to naught.

Last week came the layoffs.

CNN officials insist the move to lop off 400 staffers had nothing to do with its ratings woes or the merger, and they say it’s just the start of changes that will sweep over the network.

CNN’s most recent moves will put more pressure on its remaining 3,950 employees, who are being urged to become skilled in dealing in different media, with TV correspondents, for example, urged to learn how to shoot video, report for radio and prepare interactive pieces. As broadband spreads, video will become a more important part of the company’s online offerings, says Jim Walton, president of CNN Domestic Networks.

None of this directly addresses the problem of CNN’s competitive standing in the United States, where challengers such as Fox News Channel and MSNBC are winning ratings and critical victories. On one hand, the network has cancelled some veteran shows, such as Showbiz Today and Style, and dropped the controversial Newsstand. But it also re-signed such key correspondents as Jeff Greenfield and Christiane Amanpour, with an eye toward putting together more personality-driven shows.

CNN officials say the new moves are part of a plan they’ve been working on for months to ensure that CNN News Group’s 34 television and online services are being produced efficiently.

As a subsidiary of the new AOL Time Warner, CNN has eliminated its separate interactive division, responsible for one of the Web’s most visited sites, with an eye toward more closely integrating online and interactive content with the production of its more traditional news broadcasts.

"We thought we needed to have one voice for CNN going across multiple platforms," says Walton. "The standalone interactive division didn’t make sense for us anymore."

The head of CNN Interactive, Scott Woelfel’s position is being eliminated, and he’s leaving the company.

Eason Jordan, president of newsgathering and chief news executive, says that despite the personnel cuts, which were smaller than some speculative reports, CNN News Group’s overall budget will be up from last year’s, which was more than forecast because of coverage of the presidential recount in Florida. He says CNN will be spending millions more on newsgathering.

"When it comes to breaking news, CNN does not skimp in the least," Jordan says.

He says CNN will have what viewers expect, the first pictures and the first correspondents on the scene when news breaks. Plus "more thoughtful interactive reporting."

CNN also has ambitious plans to start a "superdesk" to better coordinate the newsgathering efforts of the networks and online services, open two new bureaus, and create two new beats covering education and religion.

Leadership at some of CNN’s flanker domestic networks are changing. Departing are Bob Furnad, president of Headline News, and Shelby Coffey, president of CNNfn.

They were replaced by executives carrying GM titles. Teya Ryan, EVP-domestic networks at CNN, was named general manager of Headline News.

Ken Jautz was named GM of CNNfn and CNNfn.com. Jautz was managing director of n-tv, the leading news and financial channel in Germany, of which AOL Time Warner owns a 50% chunk.

Steve Robinson, who was No. 2 at CNNsi behind Walton before he was promoted last year, becomes GM of CNN/ Sports Illustrated.

In an internal memo to staffers, Jordan said the transformation CNN is undergoing "initially will be painful for us" because of the layoffs.

Some staffers will be offered other positions at CNN, he said, while others will get severance packages "twice as generous" as the company’s standard.

He stressed that even after the cuts, CNN will have more correspondents and bureaus that ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC combined. However, the demand for packages by CNN USA and Headline News will likely decrease.

"What we will see far less often on CNN USA are B-grade stories that are not especially important or interesting," he said. "We will enable our correspondents to focus more on quality and to more often provide tailored reporting for our interactive services."

During a conference call with the press, Jordan bristled at the suggestion that programming moves at CNN resembled the talk show formats at Fox News and MSNBC.

"We’re not imitating anyone," Jordan said. CNN’s shows will feature news, "not ranting and raving. Here we’re serious about news in primetime."