Plagued by controversy, Chris Licht, who was the CEO of the US news network CNN, left his position in the last hours. This was confirmed by the company itself, which did not spare criticism for its outgoing president.
"Chris Licht, CNN's embattled chairman and CEO, whose brief one-year tenure at the network was tainted by a series of serious mistakes, is leaving the company." Thus begins the article that the chain published on its website telling the departure of its previous leader.
The tone of the news has a reason for being, in a very tumultuous year for CNN: the closure of CNN+, layoffs, historically low ratings and employee morale at rock bottom. That is in addition to a profile of Licht that was published in The Atlantic and that left the executive in a very bad position.
The information was confirmed by David Zaslav, chief executive of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, to CNN employees at the start of the network's daily editorial conference. "I've met with Chris and he's leaving CNN," he said.
Zaslav said Licht's job was "never going to be easy" and praised the "incredible career" he had, wishing him the best in his future projects. Licht had been in office for 13 months.
"For a number of reasons, things didn't work out and that's unfortunate," Zaslav said. "It's a pity. Ultimately, it's my fault. And I take full responsibility for it," he said.
Chris Licht, the questioned former CEO of CNN. AFP Photo
The truth is that, as the CNN article, signed by Oliver Darcy, puts it, "it was increasingly clear that Licht's tenure as chief executive was rapidly coming to an end."
According to the New York Times, Licht's tenure at the helm of the network was fraught with controversy. The first of these was the closure of the expensive CNN+ streaming service at the request of the network's new owners, resulting in numerous layoffs.
But that was only the beginning of the fall. Licht's ratings dropped and various events, including an unsuccessful morning show and the organization of a town hall interview with former President Donald Trump, further reduced his support within the company.
But the turning point was The Atlantic's lengthy 15,000-word article about him, delving into Licht's plight at the helm of the company. It also included comments from within the network. In it, the CEO belittled the journalism that the network had previously done.
In another article published by CNN on its website, its author described that profile as "shameful" and said that it "seriously questioned Licht's judgment, his ability to lead the network's staff and his general professional capabilities as a senior CNN executive."
Licht later spoke to his employees, apologized for everything in the article, calling it "tremendously humiliating" and saying he would "fight like hell" to gain the trust of the 3,500-person news organization he led.
But CNN itself then remarked: "However, it is far from certain that Licht can truly win over his army of journalists, especially now that he is trying to restore relations more than a year after having alienated much of the employee base and squandered the goodwill he had when he took the helm of the network."
The closure is lethal for Licht: according to the article published by the very chain he still led, the testimony of the employees showed "an almost universal feeling", that "Licht lost respect" and "seems humiliated".
That whole situation angered the authorities. The ending was sung.
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