OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Longtime CNN anchor Christi Paul is leaving the network after nearly two decades.
Paul, who has worked for the cable news network for almost 20 years, has co-anchored CNN’s “New Day Weekend” on Saturday and Sunday mornings for nine years and hosted on CNN-owned network HLN.
Paul gave a tearful exit when telling the audience on-air that she is “part of the Great Resignation” and will be ending her time on “New Day Weekend.”
Paul shared that being away from her family made her decide to move back home to Ohio, saying that she was “tired of being tired.”
“The show will go on, as it should,” she said through tears. “But nobody else is going to be my kids’ mom. And nobody else is going to be my husband’s wife or my parents’ children, and I need to be fully, fully present there. And it’s been hard.”
"I am part of the Great Resignation." CNN Weekend co-anchor Christi Paul announces she’s leaving network.pic.twitter.com/3gURLoRYFG
— PTX (@patternsx) June 30, 2022
“In addition to covering landmark events like the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting—as well as the school shootings in Newtown, Conn., and at Virginia Tech—Paul is well-known for speaking out about her personal experience with domestic violence. One of her career highlights is conducting an exclusive interview with then-Vice President Joe Biden in 2014, talking about his motivation to combat domestic violence. She previously wrote about her experience with domestic violence in the 2012 book, Love Isn’t Supposed to Hurt. Paul never identified her abuser, but it’s believed to be her first husband, former local TV news reporter Rob Koebel,” AdWeek reported.
Beyond that, there’s a reckoning happening at CNN.
The partisan hosts at CNN could be in for a rude awakening very soon as the network is headed back towards a hard-news stance.
Jon Nicosia, the former managing editor at Mediaite, said executives at Discovery, which is merging with CNN, want to steer away from the hosts expressing a partisan viewpoint.
“SOURCE: John Malone, Discovery’s board member will ‘play a huge role in the new organization’s plans to return @CNN to its news channel roots and dismantle the partisan organization Zucker shifted it into’ They continue: ‘This will mean a large realignment of staff,’” he said in a tweet.
He added that his source told him that they expect hosts to be shown the door.
“SOURCE: This ‘realignment’ will start with @CNN Anchors. One (who was very close with Zucker) and will have a hard time transitioning away from opinion will ‘be out by the end of Spring,’” he said.
Chris Wallace left Fox News to join CNN’s streaming service, but that plan collapsed as the new owners shut down CNN+ after posting abysmal ratings.
Another name reportedly on the chopping block is CNN’s “Reliable Sources” host Brian Stelter.
Nicosia took to Twitter last week and reported that sources told him that Stelter has “weeks” left at the network and that other CNN employees are complaining about changes made by new management.
Nicosia tweeted: “SOURCE: “Stelter is ‘down to weeks if not days’ left at CNN. They go on ‘He is everything that reminds the new owners of the Zucker era they desperately want to get past.”
“They continue: ‘Management is confident Stelter is the one sharing the internal pushback to fellow media reporters while simultaneously stirring discontent within the ranks.’”
They continue: "Management is confident Stelter is the one sharing the internal pushback to fellow media reporters while simultaneously stirring discontent within the ranks"
— Jon Nicosia (@NewsPolitics) June 15, 2022
The new boss at CNN, Chris Licht, “is evaluating whether personalities and programming that grew polarizing during the Trump era can adapt to the network’s new priority to be less partisan.”
Three sources close to the situation said that if the talent can not adjust and be more straight news and less partisan they could be gone.
It is reported that he wants to give the current talent a chance to prove that they can do straight news and not tarnish CNN’s reputation, which may be tarnished right now.
Licht also agrees with others that CNN uses the “Breaking News’ banner far too often.
“Something I have heard from people both inside and outside the organization is complaints we overuse the ‘Breaking News’ banner. I agree,” the new boss said.
Warner Bros. Discovery has also been laying off staffers less than a month after pulling the plug on CNN’s failed streaming service.
