CNN ousts CEO Chris Licht after a brief, tumultuous tenure
- His exit follows a year at the head of the struggling news network, culminating in a controversial Trump town hall and a damning magazine profile
- Licht, who lost the confidence of CNN journalists, had vowed only two days ago to ‘fight like hell’ to earn the trust of those around him
CNN ousted chief executive Chris Licht after a tumultuous year leading the struggling news network that culminated in a damning magazine profile and the growing realisation that he had lost the confidence of the network’s journalists.
The change was announced at CNN’s editorial meeting on Wednesday morning and came just two days after Licht said he would “fight like hell” to earn the trust of those around him.
David Zaslav, CEO of CNN parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, appointed a four-person interim leadership team, and said at the editorial meeting that he would conduct a thorough search for Licht’s replacement.
Licht had a mandate to try and make CNN more palatable to both sides of the country’s political divide; Republicans had become increasingly suspicious of the network following repeated attacks by former US president Donald Trump.
But some at the network saw Licht’s mandate for change as a repudiation of their past work, and a live town hall interview with Trump last month drew widespread criticism.