CNN Layoffs Begin - Hitting Contributing - Who Are Not Full Time Employees But Contractors With Sometimes 6-Figure Contracts

As first reported by AdWeek, the anticipated layoffs happening at CNN are in motion. According to TVNewser, a memo was sent to staff sent on Wednesday. It is reported that CNN chairman and CEO Chris Licht wrote that the layoffs have now started. “He said the layoffs would initially focus on its paid contributors’ staff and then shift to full-time CNN staff on Thursday.

According to the AdWeek article,  Axios reported: “A source familiar with the cuts said that “a couple hundred” people in total will be impacted.”

Adweek reported that Licht said “impacted employees will learn more through an in-person meeting or via Zoom, depending on the employee’s location and receive information about notice period or any severance that would apply. All employees who are bonus eligible will still receive their 2022 bonuses, Licht said.” (The Hill)

Ugh. Terrible feeling, but perhaps better that the Twitter layoffs led by Elon Musk that came by algorithm.

Adweek noted that “contributors are not employees but are under contract to serve as talking heads or experts appearing exclusively on the network.” Adweek backed that with reporting from LA Times and Company Town “Most are kept on an annual retainer and are paid in the low six figures. Bigger names earn as much as $500,000 a year.“

Wishing everyone well who either lost a job or a contract.

Blessings For Midwin Charles, Attorney, & Legal and Social Justice Analyst

Photo Credit: Deadline

On Tuesday, April 6, 2021, attorney and MSNBC legal analyst, Midwin Charles, passed away at age 47. The week before, she had postponed one of her group Instagram gatherings, saying she wasn’t feeling well. Before that, she celebrated Deb Haaland: “This is amazing news! Herstory made during Women’s History Month could not be more poetic. Deb Haaland is the first Native American to serve as a cabinet member in 2021? Appalling it took this long. Native Americans were almost driven to extinction by genocide when Europeans arrived on these shores. She is the 35th generation on this land. Yes, 35.” And prior to that, she had gone with her vaccine reluctant Mom to get vaccinated. Midwin was thrilled that her mother got vaccinated, and was encouraging friends to keep at their parents who were reluctant.

But In a post this week, her family reported that she had passed away. Her family reported: “It is with a profoundly heavy heart and the deepest sadness that we announce the untimely passing of our beloved Midwin Charles.” They continued, “She was known to many as a legal commentator on television but to us, she was devoted daughter, sister, aunt, niece, and cousin. Our lives are forever changed and we will miss her for a lifetime. The family thanks you in advance for your love and prayers.”

Midwin Charles, who also appeared on CNN and contributed to Essence magazine, and The Huffington Post, was born and raised in Brooklyn. She was a member of the Dean’s Diversity Council for American University’s Washington College of Law and served on the board of Women in Entertainment Empowerment Network (WEEN). With this, Charles was a member of the Civil Rights Committee for the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and lectured at Syracuse University. She founded the law firm, Midwin Charles & Associates, in New York City.

According to TODAY, Charles also worked for CNN as a legal contributor for “In Session,” and started “Infinite Possibilities of the Law Degree.”

MSNBC’s Joy Reid shared she was “stunned” by the news of Charles’ Death. Reid tweeted, “Midwin dear heart, you were a brilliant spirit and beautiful soul. You were such a blessing, I’m just stunned, and have been since I learned of this today.”

The New York Post also shared that, “White House principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also paid tribute to the lawyer.” She shared, “This one hit really hard today. Rest in Power Sis @MidwinCharles.”

Brooke Baldwin Leaving CNN To Amplify "The Lives Of Extraordinary Americans"

Photo Credit: Screenshot of Deadline from Everett Collection

As CNN has been restructuring its anchor lineup to point-point and reassign its political coverage, longtime weekday afternoon anchor Brooke Baldwin announced her decision to spread her wings outside of the network, telling viewers: “The next chapter of my life will be focused on what I love the most about my work: amplifying the lives of extraordinary Americans. There is just more I need to do… outside the walls of this place, a place I have been privileged to call home for 13 years. Yep, we’re still in a pandemic. No, I don’t have a job I’m jumping right into. Yes, I’m feeling very vulnerable.”

According to Variety, CNN declined to elaborate further on the decision. Announcements of anchors covering politics being reassigned or enhanced in their air-time have been announced since the new administration took place. Some of these anchors include Washington-based Brianna Keilar, who has been known to push back on officials in her interviews, and Alisyn Camerota, the “New Day” co-anchor in the morning, who “has steered the program though the bulk of the Trump administration,” according to Variety. Variety also reports that there has been consideration by CNN executives to move Alisyn to the afternoon.

Deadline reported that Brooke had a longtime goal of anchoring at CNN, and achieved it, as she explained to viewers during her announcement: “After most of my 20s working my way up in local news, I came to this network in 2008 – in the midst of the Great Recession as a freelancer. I remember I scribbled my name on a Post-It note and stuck it outside of this temporary office, determined to fulfilling my dream of becoming a full-time CNN correspondent.”

Brooke created the digital series on CNN called American Woman, which focuses on the stories of trailblazing women who have broken barriers in their respective fields and are now helping other women do the same. Brooke explains the genesis of the series here, where she quotes her southern mother: “Growing up, I wasn't encouraged to speak up or speak out," Brooke’s mother recalled. Brooke continued: “As I threw my arm around her, it brought me an important revelation, a clear view of the critical change wrought in a single generation of women: my mother and millions like her felt they couldn't use their voices, but they taught their daughters they MUST.”

Brooke has been working on a book, Huddle: How Women Unlock Their Collective Power published HarperCollins which will publish in April. Expect more from Brooke, and follow her to see how your self and/or your business could be part of her storytelling.

“You know, there is just more I need to do,” she said, “more I need to do outside of this place, outside the walls of this place, a place I’ve been privileged to call home now for 13 years.”

Read more of Brooke’s quotes from her announcement here at Deadline.

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