On October 13, Mr. Licht made his debut before the board of Warner Brothers Discovery at a Los Angeles hotel, outlining both his growth and content strategy. When asked about his efforts to make CNN less biased, Mr. Licht gave this analogy: Suppose it is raining outside. CNN plans to have people who like the rain, and it’s going to have people who say they don’t like the rain. But no one says it’s sunny.
Mr. Licht said he used the analogy to make it clear that a less partisan CNN did not mean it was less committed to the truth. “This was not to chart a new course, but to reassure people that we wouldn’t give up an inch as truth-tellers,” he said. “The change is we won’t do Trump 24/7 or let him dictate our agenda.”
Mr. Licht’s presentation was warmly received in all respects by the directors, including Mr. Malone.
The vision of Mr. Light faces industrial pressure to cut costs. (He said he appreciates, but doesn’t really believe, Mr. Zaslav’s alleged indifference to financial results.) By announcing more layoffs on Oct. 26, he said he hoped to participate in a “transparent” process that would make everyone feel they were heard. But, he said, “it would be irresponsible not to do the heavy lifting now.” He added, “I promise you CNN will be more profitable next year.”
Transparent as it may be, many in CNN’s rank and file felt blindsided by the cuts, especially after what they saw as his earlier reassurances that no further layoffs would be necessary. At a staff meeting in November, Mr Licht said he stood by his previous comment that there would be no merger-related layoffs, and “I would have said absolutely nothing that I didn’t believe was true.” But he said he understood how his comments had hurt his credibility. “I need to regain that credibility,” he acknowledged.
Mr Licht said the layoffs were the “low point” of his tenure so far.
At another staff meeting this month focused on morale recovery, Mr. Ask Lightly and ended with a passage he wrote himself:
In terms of morale, let me just say, you work at a world-renowned news organization alongside the best journalists in the world. Your jobs have meaning. Your work has an impact. You are part of something bigger, of something of enormous significance. And nothing has changed. And you have in me as a leader, who has done much of your work, someone who supports you every step of the way. My loyalty is first and foremost to this organization and to journalism, without fear or favor to anyone else, including our parent company.
That’s why I’m here. That’s why I took this job.
“I want CNN to be essential to society,” said Mr. Light in one of our interviews. “If you’re essential, the revenue will follow.”
And if not?
“Maybe it won’t work,” Mr. Licht admitted. “But I prefer to try to win this way.”
Benjamin Mullin and Michael M. Grynbaum reporting contributed.
