CBS News lays off 6% of staff, kickstarting a Bari Weiss-led overhaul
By Brian Stelter, CNN
(CNN) — CBS News is laying off about 6% of its workforce, with executives explaining the cuts as a difficult but necessary reallocation of newsroom resources.
The news division currently has about 1,100 employees, so dozens will be departing as a result of Friday’s cutbacks.
This is the second round of layoffs at CBS News since David Ellison took control of Paramount last summer.
“These are very hard choices and today is a difficult day,” CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss and president and executive editor Tom Cibrowski wrote in a memo to staff.
The previous cuts in October, which hit almost every corner of the organization, from streaming to radio, largely predated the arrival of Weiss, whom Ellison personally installed at the top. But this round is more specifically a reflection of her vision.
In their Friday morning memo, Weiss and Cibrowski framed the cuts this way: “It’s no secret that the news business is changing radically, and that we need to change along with it. New audiences are burgeoning in new places, and we are pressing forward with ambitious plans to grow and invest so that we can be there for them.”
“That means some parts of our newsroom must get smaller to make room for the things we must build to remain competitive,” they wrote.
It’s a familiar story — but one punctuated by what many view as a sharp editorial and ideological shift for the news division under Weiss’ leadership.
After she arrived at CBS last October, Weiss was taken aback by both the obsolete nature of some operations and the depleted morale of some staffers, according to people who have spoken with her.
Weiss also perceived a stark resistance to change in some quarters of CBS. The staff overhaul stems, in part, from those observations.
“Employees who are affected will be notified by the end of the day,” Weiss and Cibrowski’s memo said. The note said “we’ll treat them all with care and respect” and acknowledged the “exceptionally intense” news cycle: “This organization is working its heart out to deliver for our audience. We’re so grateful to all of you, and we thank you for handling this difficult news with compassion.”
Further changes at CBS News are expected in the coming months, especially as talent contracts expire.
The-CNN-Wire
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