The CNN logo. (Photo by Ronen Tivony/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Inside Hudson Yards, as CNN staffers nervously await the arrival of David Ellison and whatever upheaval his reign may bring, network chief Mark Thompson and his lieutenants are still pressing ahead with their own effort to remake CNN for a digital future. Last year, the network launched its long-anticipated streaming service—an offering executives have insisted is performing well, even as they have refused to provide any hard subscription data to substantiate those rosy claims.
As part of that broader effort, CNN leadership has—to no surprise—concluded that the organization in its current form is still not fully built for the current digital media environment. The view from inside the building, I’m told, is that the network must still make efforts to modernize its workforce if it wants to compete more aggressively for digital audiences and position itself for long-term growth. The shift reflects a push for more employees fluent in product, streaming, audience development, and digital storytelling—and fewer in roles executives increasingly see as relics of an earlier era.
To that end, Status has learned that the network plans to lay off some staffers this week. The scope of the layoffs…
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Scott MacFarlane. (Screen grab via YouTube)
MacFarlane's Meidas Move: Veteran correspondent Scott MacFarlane announced Monday that he had joined the progressive MeidasTouch Network as its chief Washington correspondent, where he will contribute reporting across the social media company’s various channels and launch his own show in the coming weeks. In announcing the move, MacFarlane said that he shared “the same philosophy” with Meidas on one key issue: “You don’t platform lies. You don’t platform conspiracy theories. And you don’t allow for the whitewashing of history.”
The comments appeared to amount to an indirect jab at CBS News boss Bari Weiss. As Status previously reported, before quitting as the network’s Justice correspondent earlier this month, MacFarlane had grown disillusioned with the direction Weiss was taking the newsroom and was appalled by the both-sides manner in which the “Evening News” marked the fifth anniversary of the January 6 insurrection. In any event, MacFarlane got an immediate lift after launching at Meidas. Most notably, his YouTube following doubled within hours, rising to 42,000 subscribers.
► The mechanics: So how exactly does MacFarlane’s deal with Meidas work? Ben Meiselas, the network’s co-founder, told our Natalie Korach that the arrangement is structured to…
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