New York Post: Two CNN execs bolt struggling network as anxiety soars over cost-cutting after spinoff

Story from New York Post:

Two senior CNN executives are reportedly bolting the ratings-challenged network as the company plans to crack down on perks ahead of the looming corporate spinoff.

Laura Bernardini, vice president of domestic news, and Jacque Smith, vice president for digital video, are both leaving CNN, according to Oliver Darcy’s Status newsletter.

Bernardini has spent 28 years at CNN, while Smith has been at the network for 17 years.

The network also plans to slash expense accounts beginning July 1 by forcing workers to submit receipts for travel and source meetings, Status reported.

CNN and Warner Bros. Discovery declined comment.

The purported moves come amid rising anxiety in the newsroom with many staffers bracing for yet another wave of upheaval as CNN is carved out of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery and bundled with other legacy cable networks.

Warner Bros. Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels — who has a reputation as a ruthless cost-cutter — will take over the new company, called Global Networks.

CNN’s star anchor Anderson Cooper, whose $18 million-a-year salary was reported for the first time last week, has hired a new super agent — leading to speculation he could also be on the way out.

Wiedenfels, meanwhile, struck an optimistic tone about the network’s future in a recent memo to staffers, calling himself a “deep admirer of CNN” who consumes its content “around the clock,” according to Status.

The email’s subject line — “Excitement for the Future” — did little to calm nerves, Darcy reported in his newsletter.

Staffers are reportedly nervous the spinoff will relegate them to what’s being called the “Sh-t Co.” wing of Warner Bros. Discovery.

“Everyone is wary and tired and there is so much change that we don’t understand what direction the company is going in,” one CNN staffer told Darcy.

Another added: “There are people who think CNN won’t exist at some point. Hard to believe that will happen, but there are people who feel that way.”

CNN boss Mark Thompson, who’s tried to keep morale up, told staffers in a memo last week: “We hold our destiny in our own hands… If we reinvent CNN to meet the challenge of the future… we’ll succeed in all scenarios. If we don’t, we’ll suffer the same fate as any legacy company that fails to respond to a changing world.”

Global Networks — which will also include TBSm HGTV and TNT — will mark CNN’s third parent company in seven years.

Under Warner Media, former boss Jeff Zucker and Jason Kilar launched CNN+, only for the streaming service to be killed weeks after launch by Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav folliwing its $43 billion merger in 2022.

The network has lagged in the ratings race against rivals MSNBC and Fox News as Zaslav has pushed for left-leaning CNN to appeal to a more centrist audience. 18-Warner Bros. Discovery is pouring $100 million into a new CNN streaming product set to launch this fall — and reportedly re-hiring some of the same CNN+ executives they previously let go.

“Global Networks has a robust portfolio and is set-up for success. Across many regions and teams internally, there is excitement for the opportunities of Global Networks,” a source familiar with the situation told The Post.

Warner Bros. Discovery will retain HBO, Warner Bros. Pictures and Max as part of a new entity known as Streaming & Studios.

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