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Friday, September 24, 2010

The News We've All Been Expecting.....

Jim Walton, President of CNN, sent this memo to staffers this morning;

I have some news to share with you about our executive leadership and
how our programming teams are going to work together to ensure we’re
prominently featuring CNN’s quality journalism across our multiple
platforms. Two accomplished CNN executives whom most of you know and
have worked with are stepping up to new roles, effective immediately.
A third senior leader will be brought on in the role of managing
editor to help leverage our newsgathering resources across multiple
platforms in a more collaborative way.

Ken Jautz is moving from HLN to CNN/U.S. to run the network as its
executive vice president. Ken is a rarity-a working journalist who is
an even better news executive. The reinvention of HLN is the latest
in a string of successes he has led at CNN. Ken has launched, made
profitable and turned around businesses for our news organization,
Turner Broadcasting and Time Warner literally around the world. To
his new assignment he brings deep experience as a reporter, both
overseas and in the US; a CNN-wide perspective; and relationships from
multiple positions within Turner. Most importantly, he has a
demonstrated ability to collaborate and lead strong teams, and a
track-record of programming successes.

Scot Safon assumes the executive vice president role at HLN and will
run the network. Scot and HLN are in my view an inspired combination.
He is an innovator; HLN is an ideal news and information laboratory.
He is an expert in audience targeting and development; HLN’s audience
is young, engaged and growing. And he is a charismatic leader who is
passionate about journalism, storytelling and our brand. As Chief
Marketing Officer of CNN Worldwide, Scot has led a dynamic team that
has done award-winning marketing, advertising and promotion for CNN,
HLN, CNN International and CNN.com.

Additionally, to put our multi-platform advantages more fully to work,
we will be naming an executive vice president and managing editor of
CNN Worldwide to lead collaboration across all platforms and elevate
CNN’s unique journalism and analysis. A managing editor, with full
access to our journalism resources and my mandate to shape and connect
our newsgathering across networks, shows, and websites, is a new role
for the organization. Ultimately, the goal is that the kind of
front-page reporting and analysis that captures a news event,
translates its meaning and shapes the dialogue about the story will
continue to emerge in even more prominent and more accessible ways to
CNN’s audiences. The search for this person is currently underway.

Our colleague Jon Klein is leaving CNN. Jon’s six years as head of
CNN/U.S. are reflected in the quality of our coverage of signal news
events during his tenure: the tsunami in South Asia, Hurricane
Katrina, the 2008 election cycle and the Haiti earthquake, as well as
shows like Anderson Cooper 360, The Situation Room and Fareed Zakaria
GPS, all of which bear his imprint. Jon has made important
contributions to the CNN story, and he leaves with our respect and
friendship, and with my sincere thanks.

We are going into a busy fall and winter with November elections and
two new prime time shows on CNN. Ken, Scot and the new managing
editor will impact these and all of the other events ahead, as will
you. My expectation is that our leaders and our new operating
discipline will put CNN’s advantages to work where they matter most:
for our audience. Our coverage will be relevant and resonant; will
have meaning for millions of people around the world; and it will
reflect the qualities that CNN is rightfully famous for: commitment to
truth, respect for facts, service to no political agenda and passion for
journalism and analysis done right and well.

We've seen several tweets from people in the know saying Klein was fired but it doesn't really matter at this point. We wish him well in his new pursuits and look forward to better things for CNN! ~ The ATC Team

All content, unless otherwise cited, is © All Things CNN and may not be used without consent of the blog administrator.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

No surprise here, but why go with the guy who
is running HLN. Their programming is worse
than CNN. Something is clearly going on at the
network and we will find out in the weeks to
come. My guess will be Spitzer Parker and
Piers Morgan will be short lived.At some point
CNN will wake up and see viewers don't care
what talking heads think. Do your job and tell
us the news.

Anonymous said...

I'd say he was fired. CNN is wising up and hiring
someone with digital expertise on the management
staff. I think CNN should also add an executive for
social media.I have always wondered what CNN
would look like post Jon Klein. I am going to have
to wait and see what unfolds but I am not watching
any show other than 360 in prime time.

Anonymous said...

Jim Walton please give us back the original
360 and real news that matters and drop
the opinions. We need facts and not fiction
and misinformation. There is a lot of talk on
the web that this might lead to Parker Spitzer
getting canned. One can only hope and the
same should be for

Tedi B said...

'Bout time!

Anonymous said...

I find it interesting that Klein was fired BEFORE Spitzer/Parker even aired??
Perhaps Jim Walton was able to read the writing on the wall BEFORE the ratings were even in?
Hey Jon Klein, "There's the door...don't let it hit you in the a.. on your way out!"

Anonymous said...

This only means that the content on CNN will
get worse and the network will make itself
irrelevant. Jantz is big on opinion and talking
heads and not news. Everyone knows that
Parker Spitzer & Piers Morgan will be huge
flops. The question is how soon CNN pulls
the plug. If I am a journalist at CNN, I am
really concerned.HLN has some of the worse
shows on cable news.CNN does not get it.
Politics is not at the center of viewers lives,
but information is and always will be,CNN
is about to experience a huge backlash.

Anonymous said...

CNN reminds me of the situation at Digg.
They took their customers for granted and
thought they could do whatever and it would
not matter and now Reddit is reaping the
benefits and Digg is down some 36 % since
the changes. Reddit played a huge role in
the Stewart/Colbert rallies. CNN is leaving
it's viewers out buy ramming politics and
arguing down people's throats and the viewers
don't like it, yet CNN insists on engaging in
the same thing over and over again.


CNN it is the 21st century and you need to
get hip to what is happening.

In the age of Youtube, Facebbok and social
media opinion on cable news does not matter.
CNN thinks pundits matter. Not.I can have
my own broadband channel and do live
streaming of any event I choose to cover
on the internet.I can do live shots with an
I-phone and have interviews via Skype
and have face to face conversations with
the latest Ipod.

CNN thinks Donald Trump is still a national
figure. Not.

CNN thinks e-mail is how people still
communicate these days. Not.CNN has
no idea how to reap the benefits of social
media.It is something for the people and
the people decides what matters and not
so dumb anchor going follow me on Twitter.
Now why would I want to do that.CNN needs
to hire a social media team to develop a
news exchange that is a Facebook for news
junkies. How about giving viewers the
opportunity to tell CNN about news stories
they are hearing about in their communities.
What is important to Rick Sanchez aint
important to me. Nor to people on Twitter
because it is very easy to track what is big
on Twitter and it is nothing on Rick's List.

Unless CNN hires some executives who
are in their 40's,30's and 20's, they will
never realize the world is very different
now. We live in the Digital Age and exchange
information not opinion.We exchanging
info about bargains, music and real viral
videos like OK GO and not people arguing
on cable news. Not viral at all.

CNN needs someone in management who
gets their news from the internet and social
media and not political blogs. People who
care more about news and information.
original reporting and interesting topics
and stuff that is out there. In 24 hrs you
get no news and that is the problem for
CNN. Many of us who visit this blog know
that CNN is not dong news and its a
sorry excuse for a news channel.
Increasingly, I can't relate to anything on
cable news and I am getting most of my
news from the web. Also, do something
about CNN.com and international news.

CNN, HLN & CNN.com are not working now.
They are all dysfunctional.

Anonymous said...

The promos alone for Parker Spitzer make me
not want to watch. Who cares another boring
talk show on CNN. Will they be giving shows
to journalists or people who should not have
tv shows in prime time in the first place.

Anonymous said...

Don't mess with the weekends. I really like
TJ,Reynolds, Federicka, Josh and Don.The
weekend segments are way better than CNN
during the week. Where is Isha Sesay. I miss
her on 360. IMO Jantz has the task of coming
up with new shows to replace the latest 2
editions to CNN. The way in which Jon Klein
was fired speaks volumes.I am wondering if
bringing in the guy who currently runs HLN and
has been with the company for years is a way
of signaling to CNN employees we have not
forgotten about you. Jantz knows the history of
CNN and HLN. Let's hope he understands
that CNN's strength is news and not talk.
That said,his comments concern me that
CNN management thinks opinion is why
they are in trouble. No, it is crappy shows.
HLN's ratings are heading south too, so
why would you do the same thing at CNN.
When you think about HLN is pretty trashy.

Anonymous said...

If CNN management had a brain they would do
a women's news show. I even like the segment
on guy topics with TJ Holmes and Reynolds Wolf
It is sort of the guy segment. By the way it is
Tosh.0 that kills Stewart & Colbert on Comedy
in the ratings and guess what, his show is about
web videos. Each day CNN could do this just like
Josh Levs does on the weekends. How come he
does not have a daily segment on CNN. Cable.
news is controlled by a select few, It is time for
CNN to give the news back to the people. I read
it as though the new management position will
focus on content, They are kinda admitting that
is a problem.

Anonymous said...

Let's hope CNN gets new graphics and not the
gigantic banners that take up to much of the
screen. That CNN gives us real time news and
more news than you can handle in 24 hrs. Drop
the crawl and replace it with a media bar,give
us full screen video you can actually see and
shows that are worth watching. Right now 360
is the only show CNN has going for it right now.
They waited too late. This should have been done
months ago. I just hope Jim Walton is serious
about the news and end the suffering of
CNN viewers who just want to find out what
is going on i the world .I am not sure with
so much being out there that one person
can be in charge of content. You could hire
people who would gladly search for news
items.

Anonymous said...

How can Josh Levis be compared to Stewart and Colbert???? There's no comparison. Please do some reading as to how The Daily has taken over the DECADE and stop pontificating this childish nonsense.
And the new executive manager, accroding to the NYT is Ken Jauntz.
Again please educate yourself before spouting nonsense. It just takes up space on this blog.

Anonymous said...

One bad habit is pretty widespread on CNN
these days. : incorrect information. I would
like to see CNN get back to it's roots and
start giving us good reliable news we can
use and cut the silliness. CNN is held to a
much higher standard than FNC & MSNBC.
Lately they have not been living up to them.

Anonymous said...

I was comparing Stewart to Daniel Tosh not
Josh Levs. Tosh.O is a big demo draw for
Comedy and is usually equal or tops Stewart
in the demo. However, there are nights when
he beats Stewart in viewers, Tosh is blowing
up at Comedy. I wish CNN would hire Daniel
Tosh or Conor Knighton instead of Piers
Morgan at 9. Their shows are similar to The
Daily Show, but they are both younger.I was
saying CNN should expand the viral video
segment. Sometimes news can be fun and
Josh Levs does a good job on weekends.
I am quite aware of the Daily Show and it's
impact and TV by the Numbers has the
ratings. Daniel Tosh and Conor Knighton
focus more on the media and not just the
news.

Anonymous said...

I don't think Ken Jautz will be making any changes
right away. 6 months down the road is another
story. Jon Klein is fired on Monday and this does
not get out until Friday. I get the feeling that Jim
Walton wanted to do this sooner. Not sure what
held things up. Also, CNN seems to be changing
it's management structure. The newly created
position is gong to have someone with a whole
lot of power.CNN has huge complexes in both
NYC and Atlanta. Can one person really handle
all of that? I get the feeling that Jeff Bewkes,
TW CEO, is finally getting around to taking a
look at CNN and he is not too pleased.I am
wondering if Parker/Spitzer is not testing
well or if Bewkes is not impressed. The
man ran HBO for years, he knows good tv
when he sees it.I have never seen such a
negative reaction like this with regards to
Spitzer and Piers Morgan. There are many
who are calling for a boycott of CNN. Why
would CNN decide to tick off viewers ?
There is more here than meets the eye.
I wondering if a new CNN could possibly
be ready to go Jan 2011. Ken Jautz knows
CNN well , could he really make changes
in the next 3 months? I don't know but
at least somebody finally woke up.

Anonymous said...

Last night CNN had a really powerful hour of
television with Don Lemon. He is an amazing
journalist. For the life of me, I can't figure out
why he is only on CNN during weekends and
does not have a more prominent role. Lemon
is also a strong questioner and interviewer. If
CNN focuses on news,storytelling and original
reports both national and internationally, they
will be fine.I am a huge fan of aggregated news.
Just give us news n all categories. Viewers have
different interests and right now cable news
does not get that. There is no independent
news organization out there really doing their
jobs. It is too close to politics and noise. Let's
hope that someone at CNN understands that
information is what people crave. HLN is not
dong to well these days either. Maybe CNN
will make one of their networks a 24/7
live news channel. It can be easily done if
CNN would use CNN I more.

Anonymous said...

We are living in a time in which people would
rather go to Youtube & Facebook to spread the
news. The latest example : a passenger recording
some tense moments on a plane. CNN needs to
find a way to connect with viewers. How about a
viewer contributed news show called " Get Your
News ON ". I am wiling to bet this would be a
huge success CNN has forgotten about regular
folk and says we are not welcome. Thank goodness
for the social media. It is the only thing that
is out there for you and me to tell the world
what is happening. CNN thinks you only need
to hear what people think. Good riddance.

Anonymous said...

11:54AM: You're feeling about CNN's Spitzer and Parker not testing well, may be correct. While Spitzer seems to be holding his own, and has demonstrated to at
least get a debate going, we've rarely even seen Parker. And when we did see her, she seemed to melt into the background.
Why choose her? She was a print journalist from WAPO so that makes her capable of doing better than Campbell Brown? Really?
She had better get a grip and stop acting like a shrinking violet. She's up against O'Reilly!

Anonymous said...

CNN messed up again.John KIng is nothing but
pundit central and it's rankings are horrible. Why
in the world would you go with another political
show for the 8pm hour.CNN's ratings on Friday
tell the story and the same goes for HLN.Both
networks are going downward and CNN still
insists on doing the same thing over and over
again.CNN should definitely be getting the
message you just can't put anything on tv
and expect for people to watch. Rick's List is
an example of that.CNN will have to pull the
plug on some shows and make some real
changes. I always thought it was a huge
mistake to go with solo anchors during the
day.If people don't like the personality, you
are toast. 2 or 3 people work better for
2 hours or a least change the anchors each
hour. Right now CNN is news you can't use.

Anonymous said...

Mediaite has a very interesting item on CNN.
Ken Jautz has a tough job ahead of him and
it won't come easy. The most interesting IMHO
is the applause that erupted when CNN staffers
were told of the change. Jamie McIntyre says
it right. CNN has to move away from tabloid
trash. When you have hired a former British
tabloid journalist, you are not making it easier.
CNN will never be able to dress Piers Morgan
up and just like Parker Spitzer will be a huge
failure. Someone at CNN should never have
given the go ahead for either of these shows.
Rachel Maddow proves there is an audience
for intelligent, smart news without theatrics.
Maddow is starting to overshadow Keith.
What does Jautz mean when he says entertaining ?

Anonymous said...

I am so not watching Piers Morgan or
Parker Spitzer.