CBS News is laying off about 6% of its workforce, with executives explaining the cuts as a difficult but necessary reallocation of newsroom resources.
The news division currently has about 1,100 employees, so dozens will be departing as a result of Friday’s cutbacks.
This is the second round of layoffs at CBS News since David Ellison took control of Paramount last summer.
“These are very hard choices and today is a difficult day,” CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss and president and executive editor Tom Cibrowski wrote in a memo to staff.
The previous cuts in October, which hit almost every corner of the organization, from streaming to radio, largely predated the arrival of Weiss, whom Ellison personally installed at the top. But this round is more specifically a reflection of her vision.
In their Friday morning memo, Weiss and Cibrowski framed the cuts this way: “It’s no secret that the news business is changing radically, and that we need to change along with it. New audiences are burgeoning in new places, and we are pressing forward with ambitious plans to grow and invest so that we can be there for them.”
“That means some parts of our newsroom must get smaller to make room for the things we must build to remain competitive,” they wrote.
One hour later, in a second memo, the executives told staff that CBS News Radio will sign off the air on May 22. “While this was a necessary decision, it was not an easy one,” they wrote. “A shift in radio station programming strategies, coupled with challenging economic realities, has made it impossible to continue the service.”
Friday’s cutbacks are a familiar story — but one punctuated by what many view as a sharp editorial and ideological shift for the news division under Weiss’ leadership.
After she arrived at CBS last October, Weiss was taken aback by both the obsolete nature of some operations and the depleted morale of some staffers, according to people who have spoken with her.
Weiss also perceived a stark resistance to change in some quarters of CBS. The staff overhaul stems, in part, from those observations.
“Employees who are affected will be notified by the end of the day,” Weiss and Cibrowski’s memo said. The note said “we’ll treat them all with care and respect” and acknowledged the “exceptionally intense” news cycle: “This organization is working its heart out to deliver for our audience. We’re so grateful to all of you, and we thank you for handling this difficult news with compassion.”
The second memo, specifically about radio, noted that “the coming weeks will be difficult for the team members” since they’ll be keeping the radio network on the air until May while knowing their jobs are ending.
Weiss tried to figure out a way to save the radio network, according to a source familiar with the cuts, but “the financials made it impossible,” with barely any revenue coming in.
Further changes at CBS News are expected in the coming months, especially as talent contracts expire.
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