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CNN’s top digital editor has left the network after 12 years, the latest staff shakeup after new network boss vowed to ax woke shows and return network to straight news.
On Friday, Meredith Artley, senior vice president and editor-in-chief of CNN Digital Worldwide, announced that she would be departing the network in a memo to staffers.
Artley, who said she would be ‘around for another week or two’ to help with the transition said her 12 years at the company has been ‘a rewarding and long run’ but that she was excited for her ‘next adventure with her family.’
A CNN source said Artley was ready for something new, and that she’d announce her next project soon.
‘I’m so proud to have played a role in guiding, growing and championing CNN’s journalism across our digital platforms for all these years,’ Artley wrote.
Meredith Artley, (pictured) senior vice president and editor-in-chief of CNN Digital Worldwide, announced that she would be departing the network in a memo
CEO Davis Zaslav (pictured) has quickly forced out top executives and axed projects he didn’t consider worthy, like the streaming service CNN+ and a superhero movie
Artley’s departure comes after CNN’s parent company, WarnerMedia, merged with Discovery to establish Warner Bros. Discovery
There has been no word of a replacement.
Her departure comes after CNN’s parent company, WarnerMedia, merged with Discovery to establish Warner Bros. Discovery.
The acquisition was spearheaded by David Zaslav, 62, who took over the combined company last month and personally appointed Chris Licht for the highest role at CNN.
But since Licht took over as head of the network he has cleaned house, and Axios reported that Artley was ‘frustrated’ with the shakeups.
Artley is leaving just a month after CNN digital lead Andrew Morse, who headed the failed streaming service CNN+, also left the network.
CNN+ had promised to be a new frontier in the news business, offering original programming separate from what the company airs on its news channel.
One top producer even went as far to call the streaming service CNN’s Apollo Mission – comparing it to the successful moon landing, the Wall Street Journal reports, and network recruiters told potential hires it was prepared to spend $1 billion over four years on the endeavor.
‘I’m so proud to have played a role in guiding, growing and championing CNN’s journalism across our digital platforms for all these years,’ Artley wrote in a memo to her staffer’s
Since Chris Licht took over as head of the network he has cleaned house, and Axios reported that Artley was ‘frustrated’ with the shakeups
Artley’s departure comes a month after CNN digital lead Andrew Morse, who headed the failed streaming service CNN+, left the network.
But after Zaslav found out that it was only being streamed by 5,000 to 10,000 people at any given moment – he decided to pull the plug.
By April 21, Licht told staff that CNN+ was ending.
The launch of CNN+ came after some turbulence from within the network that led to former network CEO Jeff Zucker’s resignation in February after it was revealed that he was involved in a personal relationship with CNN marketing and communication head Allison Gollust, who also resigned as a result of the discovery.
The relationship was disclosed right after former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo resigned from his weeknight news analysis show on the network, following evidence that he had deceived his bosses about the amount help he was giving to his older brother and former Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo in his bid to shrug off allegations of sexual harassment by several women.
Zaslav – who makes a reported $246.6 million a year – quickly forced out top executives and axed projects he didn’t consider worthy, like the streaming service CNN+ and a superhero movie still in development, the Wall Street Journal reports.
On Wednesday, Zaslav took to CNBC to share some of his colleague Chris Licht’s plans for CNN.
Zaslav appeared to confirm the network would move away from opinion-focused primetime shows, and instead return to its roots as a breaking news broadcaster with an extremely strong reputation for covering big stories.
CNN has won plaudits for its coverage of the Ukraine war, and the network’s new bosses are believed to be trying to focus on rebuilding its reputation as one of the world’s top newsgatherers, instead of a home for cheap to produce ‘infotainment’ shows featuring soapboxing hosts and guests.
Zaslav, who is close to entertainment heavyweights Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg, is big on cross-promotion and has already floated plans to have top movie talent participate in a Discovery Channel Shark Week promotional event.
The move is consistent with the existing perception of the Brooklyn-born lawyer, who is thought to have tainted Discovery Channel’s brand when he took over in 2006 and refocused the cable channel on reality TV in order to turn a profit.
