Oliver Darcy, CNN’s top media correspondent, says staffers within his network’s ranks have lost confidence in CEO Chris Licht, who has been at the center of negative headlines and widespread condemnation from his own journalists in recent days.
“There are a wide range of emotions coursing through the halls of CNN. Some staffers are frustrated. Others are angry. Many are sad about the awful state of affairs that has taken hold of an organization they love,” Darcy wrote in his newsletter late Monday. “There is one near-universal sentiment, however, that has been communicated to me: Licht has lost the room.”
Licht on Monday apologized to CNN staffers during the outlet’s morning editorial call over the negative press attention that has followed the publication of a 15,000-word profile of him.
In the piece, published Friday by The Atlantic, Licht was critical of the network’s coverage of the coronavirus pandemic under the leadership of former top executive Jeff Zucker and spoke at length about his vision for CNN as a news organization focused on sober facts rather than sensationalism.
“In the eyes of so many at CNN, there isn’t anything Licht can do at this point to win over their support,” Darcy wrote. “They’ve hit the wall with him. As one anchor texted me, in reference to Licht’s announcement on Monday that he will relocate his office to a newsroom floor at Hudson Yards: ‘We don’t want his office relocated to the 18th floor, we want it relocated out of the building.'”
Last month, Darcy was summoned into a meeting with Licht and reprimanded over his coverage of CNN’s town hall with Donald Trump, which was widely panned by media and political observers for giving the former president a forum to amplify his misinformation and false statements.