Turner Broadcasting is offering buyouts to 6 percent of its U.S. employees. The news on CNN’s site today comes through a strange source: CNN’s “Reliable Sources” host Brian Stelter, who also writes for CNNMoney. Turner, of course, owns CNN.
In a nutshell: Expect layoffs and “other cost-cutting measures.”
“[Jeff] Zucker helped create this fiscal mess for Turner,” a TV insider speaking on condition of anonymity told The Mirror. “His wild and outrageous spending, has severely hurt the profitability of CNN and Turner. All those getting laid off should receive a personal apology from Jeff Zucker for his failed stewardship of CNN. This is beyond sad. They will get pink slips while he keeps cashing a large, unearned check. Pathetic!””
Age is a clear factor. The report states that buyouts will go to employees who are 55 and above who’ve been with the company for a decade and beyond. And get this: “Those who volunteer will receive nine weeks of salary, in addition to four weeks of salary for each year of employment.”
Stelter was able to get some info through a “spokesman.” But there was nothing from Zucker directly in his story. A quote came through a story in the Atlanta Journal Constitution from last week.
[RELATED: CNN staffers are petrified about what’s on the horizon.]
According to TheWrap, which reported the buyout news a day earlier than Stelter but was pretty lamely not mentioned or cited anywhere in Stelter’s story, reports that a couple hundred employees at CNN and HLN will get cut. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported news of the buyouts Monday night. Again, no citing by Stelter that the publication’s news came before his report.
“Some 550 buyouts are expected to be offered at Time Warner’s Turner division this week, with a couple of hundred of those at CNN and HLN, which will lead to layoffs if they are not taken voluntarily,” reports TheWrap.
So typical: In TheWrap‘s story, a CNN spokeswoman “had no immediate comment.”
Or eventual comment for that matter.
(P.S. The Mirror reached out to a CNN publicist for either immediate, near immediate or eventual comment. None was forthcoming or will likely arrive on the foreboding horizon or by the time the sun rises tomorrow. We’re hoping for a comment by the summer solstice of 2015.)