In a new round of job cuts, CBS News announced Friday (US time) that it was laying off roughly 6% of its approximately 1,100 person workforce. The major shake-up marks for the second round of layoffs at the US news outlet since David Ellison took charge of Paramount last summer. Marking the end of an era, the shocking job cuts will also pull the plug on the nearly 100-year-old CBS News Radio service, as per US reports.
‘End of an era’: CBS News announces layoffs
As quoted by several US reports, CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss and president Tom Cibrowski acknowledged the job cuts in a memo to staff Friday morning. “A shift in radio station programming strategies, coupled with challenging economic realities, has made it impossible to continue the service.” The radio service will go off air on May 22.
Despite these marking the second wave of layoffs in just a few months, more are expected to impact employees in the coming future. This comes at a time when Paramount is waiting for regulatory approval for its deal to buy Warner Bros. With CNN included as a subsidiary, the anticipated outcome could result in a potential combination of CNN and CBS News, as per CNN’s report.
However, CNN has since cited sources at CBS saying that the Paramount’s future ownership of CNN did not factor into the latest layoff announcement.
What prompted the latest CBS News layoffs round?
As highlighted in memos, Weiss and Cibrowski attributed the shake-up to the changing landscape of the news business, and the need to maintain its competitive spirit.
“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,” they wrote. “That means some parts of our newsroom must get smaller to make room for the things we must build to remain competitive.”
The new layoffs especially come after Weiss, who is a co-founder of The Free Press website, was personally brought on board by Ellison to head CBS News last October. Her introduction to the team came along with a mandate to revamp the news outlet in a bid to restore audience’s trust.
Sharing as to what will happen with the employees impacted by the new wave of layoffs, the top leadership’s memo said, “Employees who are affected will be notified by the end of the day,” adding the will be treated with “with care and respect.”
“This organisation 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,” the memo highlighted.
In a second memo, Weiss and Cibrowski’s spoke about the major blow to the legendary CBS News Radio unit. CNN cited a source familiar with the job cuts saying that Weiss did her best to save the network, however, “the financials made it impossible,” especially since there was barely any revenue being generated from the unit.
CBS New layoffs: Who all have been impacted?
According to The New York Post, all roles in the CBS News Radio unit will be eliminated in the wake of the network shutting down on May 22.
Other than that, the 6% workforce cut has impacted about 60 employees. The New York Post has also revealed a list of CBS News anchors and correspondents who were hit by the cut. Citing sources, the US outlet said that Friday’s news impacted New York’s weekend morning anchor Elaine Quijano, Dallas-based Omar Villafranca, Nidia Cavazos from Los Angeles, Las Vegas-based Andres Gutierrez, Houston’s national reporter Karen Hua and national correspondent Dave Malkoff.
DC-based reporter Nick Kurtz and political reporter Hunter Woodall similarly announced on X that they had been let go. A source privy to the cuts told The Post that the DC office lost more than five staffers. As per the Los Angeles Times, CBS News’ environmental correspondent David Schechter has also been fired.