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CNN will slash 100 positions and undergo structural changes in a move aimed at consolidating news operations and strengthening its digital business, the namesake news agency reported on Wednesday, citing an internal memo.
The report claimed CNN Worldwide CEO Mark Thompson told staff in the memo that he would experiment with artificial intelligence and overhaul key newsroom structures, with his primary focus on digital offerings, while also planning to “breathe new life” into CNN’s television programming.
Thompson intends to create a “TV Futures Lab” that will develop and manage streaming and video on demand programming for the Max platform and find new ways to migrate the “linear news experience to other new digital environments,” among other things, according to the report.
A New York Times and BBC veteran, Thompson, who joined CNN in October last year, said a standalone subscription product for CNN.com would be introduced by the end of this year.