CNN’s latest boss has tapped a hard-charging, controversial executive to run the struggling network’s newsroom — with a few of the rank and file claiming that she is a “tyrant” with “no people skills in anyway”.
Mark Thompson — a British-born media mogul who took the helm as CNN’s CEO in October — on Wednesday named Virginia Moseley to the brand new role of executive editor on the left-leaning outlet.
CNN staffers were immediately on edge over the promotion of 61-year-old Moseley, according to sources. While one insider called her an “astute, excellent journalist,” others complained about Moseley’s fierce approach to management.
“Tyrant is the word that you simply hear used essentially the most to describe her,” said a source. “She has reduced reporters and producers to tears. She fires before she goals.”
The source added that Moseley “swirls things up,” “magnifying” small mistakes, “blowing them up” to make you are feeling like “the entire world is coming unglued and she or he alone can fix it.”
Moseley had been a part of a trio of interim execs steering the network after Thompson’s predecessor Chris Licht was ousted after roughly a yr on the helm.
On the time, sources described Moseley as a manager with an “iron-fisted” work ethic, demanding everyone show up to the office in the course of the pandemic.
Some CNN sources sang Moseley’s praises, saying she is “passionate leader” who “goes to bat” for her reporters.
They added that she is liked by on air-talent and holds formidable expertise in Washington politics.
“Virginia is a tremendous leader,” chief operating officer David Leavy told The Post. “You don’t get to this level without making some hard decisions. She’s extraordinarily well-respected.”
“She’s a superb newsperson, who has guided us through some difficult news stories,” Leavy added, referring to CNN’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.
“You may be a superb journalist without being an a–hole,” countered one other source. “There was an undercurrent of hope that Mark would find another person [for the role].”
“Individuals are shocked,” added a 3rd source, explaining that the promotion demonstrates that Thompson hasn’t been listening to employees — and that it doesn’t bode well for the network’s future.
Neither CNN nor Moseley commented.
Insiders noted that Moseley has strong relationships with each Thompson and Leavy, the powerful consigliere of David Zaslav, the CEO of CNN-parent Warner Bros Discovery.
“Mark has a very good rapport with Virginia. He cites conversations they’ve about stories [in the morning meeting],” a network source added. “She is superb about laughing and smiling — after which she’ll turn around and cut you. She talks. She stirs things up.”
While some inside CNN said that Thompson’s elevation of Moseley didn’t meaningfully change much, others said it solidified fears from Recent York-based staffers inside — namely that coverage is just too DC-focused.
Moseley spent 10 years at CBS News and had a stint at ABC News before joining CNN in 2012 to manage CNN’s White House, National Security and Justice Department, amongst other political reporting teams.
Sources noted that the exec, who’s married to Tom Nides, vice charman of Wells Fargo and former US ambassador to Israel in 2021, could be very in tune with DC politics, as is Eric Sherling, executive vp of TV programming.
Thompson revealed the controversial promotion Wednesday as he laid out a method to pump up the cable network’s digital presence because it faces continued cord cutting.
Thompson said in a memo obtained by The Post that he plans to create a “multimedia newsroom” that can mix the entire network’s newsgathering operations into one unit that can serve its TV, streaming and digital platforms, together with a division that can explore growth opportunities.
As part Thompson’s announcement Wednesday, the exec said he wants to monetize CNN’s offerings, possibly via subscriptions, and to find a greater way to show video news on phones, as a way to appeal to younger viewers.
“I don’t think anyone’s yet cracked the code on how that translates, truly translates to an important news experience,” Thompson told The Wall Street Journal in an interview the identical day.
He said that if CNN “can work out a way of doing that and be sure that it’s a prime quality, differentiated product,” people must be willing to pay for it.
Thompson, a former CEO of The Recent York Times, didn’t announce any concrete plans on latest products or specific business models.
There was much speculation that the exec might borrow from his old playbook at The Times where he launched the outlet’s subscription products business, which focused on areas like travel and health.
He told The Journal that although that specifically isn’t his plan, CNN needs to have a look at those ideas “truthfully” and “start with news” because it is a “central proposition that the CNN brand brings to mind.”
“I’m not even sure that subscription is the proper pathway for CNN,” Thompson said. “But I do think we want to start experimenting and exploring within the broader sense direct-to-consumer relationships and potentially direct-to-consumer paying relationships.”
So as to put the somewhat amorphous plan into motion, Thompson also elevated CNN International general manager Mike McCarthy, who will grow to be managing editor, and he hired Alex MacCallum, who recently departed The Washington Post, as executive vp of digital services and products.
Like other cable execs, Thompson is grappling with the network’s linear TV rankings erosion, as younger viewers turn to streaming.
He said in his memo that “CNN has been slow to respond to the challenge. Perhaps that’s not surprising: the CNN of today is not any longer that buccaneering outsider but a tenured incumbent.”
The exec added that CNN’s strength is when “big stories break” but that there’s “there’s currently too little innovation and risk-taking.”
While he noted that CNN’s cable TV will play a “central and vital role” in its success, the network must address the “long-term economics of TV” and could be “looking hard” at how to put its “TV production machine on a sustanainable footing” without negatively impacting the jornalism.
Licht addressed that problem via a round of cost-cutting that eliminated lots of of positions.
He also attempted to retool CNN’s morning show and primetime lineup with latest show launches and anchor shakeups, however the network sunk deeper into last place, and the backlash against the embattled exec only grew.
CNN has seen major declines in rankings, whilst it has been a problem across all television.
This week, it placed third to Fox News and MSNBC in total viewership for the Iowa caucuses, a breaking news event that prior to now had been a rankings boon for the network.
While CNN beat MSNBC within the all-important 25-year-old to 54 demographic, total viewership across the three major news networks were about half what they were for the 2020 caucuses, Nielsen rankings revealed.
Thompson didn’t mention any programming changes, specifically, but said the network would reinvest in originals under Amy Entelis, who was named executive vp of talent, CNN Originals and inventive development. CNN veteran Entelis had most recently helped run the network after Licht departed.
Under Licht, CNN had scaled back its orginal gilm and series, dropping shows like “Stanley Tucci: Trying to find Italy,” which has moved to the National Geographic Channel.
Thompson also made other executive changes in business development, communications and human resources teams, amongst others.
The CEO ended his memo with a rallying cry to employees: “We’d like to organize around the long run not the past,” he wrote.
“We’d like to recapture a few of the swagger and innovation of the early CNN. It’s time for a latest revolution.”