CNN's Jake Tapper and Wolf Blitzer will be denied raises and Chris Wallace will likely take a pay cut, but reports say rank-and-file journalists at the network are preparing for the 'inevitable' layoffs. The book reported.
Mark Thompson — the former BBC and New York Times boss brought in by Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav to overhaul CNN — is the highest-paid and highest-profile star. An information newspaper reported that he told some of them, “Take it or quit.'' Report.
Thompson recently re-signed CNN Washington correspondent Tapper, who anchors “The Lead,” to a new three-year contract that pays him $7 million a year, the same terms as his previous contract. According to Ankler's newsletter.
Blitzer, the 76-year-old CNN veteran who anchors “Wolf Blitzer's Situation Room,” also re-signed a new three-year contract, with his compensation frozen at about $3 million a year. money he had previously earned, the newsletter reported.
“Flats are the new thing,” an agent representing CNN talent told The Anclarer when asked about the latest developments.
Another online newsletter, Puck; Ankler's report is deniedstated that “the salary numbers are almost all wrong, and in some cases gross,” and that Tapper and Blitzer “earn massive amounts of $7 million and more than $3 million, respectively.”
A CNN spokesperson declined to comment when contacted by The Post on Thursday.
John Berman, who co-anchors News Central with Kate Bolduan and Sarah Sydner, has renewed his contract with the same annual salary of $1 million, The Anclarer reported.
Pack reported that Berman's salary is “north of $1 million to hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
However, the online newsletter acknowledged that “the widespread point that talent is being forced to renew with less than equal pay remains true”.
Meanwhile, speculation about Wallace's future with the station is certain given that the 77-year-old former Fox News personality was reportedly told he would have to accept a salary significantly less than $8.5 million. will increase. According to Ankler, his current contract is as follows:
Mr. Pack claimed that Mr. Wallace's salary was actually $7 million.
Wallace, who was brought on to the board by former CNN president Jeff Zucker shortly before he was forced to resign over a longstanding relationship with a subordinate, was in Thompson's office on Tuesday, according to The Anclarer. was discovered.
Insiders told the News-Letter that CNN staffers are “bloodbathed,” hundreds of jobs already cut as Mr. Thompson continues his overhaul of the once-mighty cable news network since taking office. The company is preparing for further layoffs. earlier this year.
“If you don't get an offer after a few months, you're in a precarious situation,” a CNN staffer told Ankler. “That anxiety just trickled down and spread everywhere.”
According to reports, Mr. Thompson is preparing to cut the salaries of dozens of the station's national correspondents, who are said to earn mid- to high-six-figure salaries, or eliminate their positions entirely. It is reported that there are.
CNN's website currently lists 92 people as on-air “reporters and correspondents.”
“Mark has made it known publicly that he doesn't like the traditional style of TV packaging that we do,” one staffer told the newsletter.. “He's looking for people with an edge. He doesn't want someone who resembles a traditional anchorman. [edgy] Humans are cheaper. ”
Thompson is cutting costs as the department faces declining revenue. In addition to plummeting viewer numbers, the company is also suffering from an increasingly bloated newsroom, with its digital division and on-air programming division run separately, even though they produce similar work.
Some broadcast correspondents may be asked to do work beyond their current job description, the report said.
Reporters could soon be asked to write their own scripts, create their own corners, or record footage vertically for TikTok videos, Ankler said.
On-air talent may also be tasked with writing stories that are posted on CNN's digital platforms.
“This place needs to be turned over,” one staff member told the Newsletter.
“It doesn't work because no one is watching. We need a fundamental overhaul.”
