On Sunday, on the eve of Donald Trump’s second inauguration,
CNN chief Mark Thompson held an editorial planning meeting with the network’s top anchors, correspondents, and producers to prepare for the next day’s historic proceedings. In the meeting, which was held virtually, Thompson stressed the need to provide dispassionate, open-minded coverage of the incoming president and focus on his future term, rather than relitigating the past or dwelling on his convictions or impeachments. His remarks were broadly interpreted by staff
as a directive to avoid the often critical, and occasionally emotional, stance that characterized CNN’s coverage of Trump’s first term, when the network was led by Jeff Zucker.

The edict was hardly surprising; CNN has been tilting, in fits and starts, toward a less polarizing posture ever since Warner Bros. Discovery took over the network in 2022—either because that’s what
John Malone wants, or it’s what more than half of the country appears to want, or just because it makes for a larger business opportunity. Nevertheless, when compared to the past two inaugurations, the result was an awkward volte-face that felt almost like a hostage video. On Monday, star journalists who years ago railed against Trump now offered little scrutiny whatsoever. Oliver Darcy, the former CNN media reporter who earlier reported on Thompson’s remarks to
staff, likened it to Invasion of the Body Snatchers. 

To wit: Four years earlier, Jake Tapper had described Trump’s first term as a “time of cruelty,” a “time when truth and fact were treated with disdain,” and an “era of just plain meanness.” Now, he
offered almost no criticism and made little effort to contextualize false or misleading statements with fact. As Darcy noted, “Outside the physical body, the Tapper of 2025 shared little in common with the pugnacious Tapper of 2020.”

Of course, CNN’s editorial transmogrification epitomizes a broader pivot taking place across the news media—and American culture—that has been
well accounted for by this point. Outside of stalwart liberal venues like MSNBC and The Atlantic,
mainstream media organizations that positioned themselves as part of the anti-Trump or pro-truth #Resistance now aspire to a less adversarial and more impartial approach in Trump’s second term. Hence The Washington Post’s evolution from the Baron-era “Democracy Dies in Darkness” to the Lewis-era “Riveting Storytelling for All of America”—or, back at CNN, Jim Acosta’s migration from Brady briefing room soapbox stardom in the Zucker era
to his impending banishment to midnight in the Thompson era (if he doesn’t walk instead). 

Depending on who you ask, this is either a long-overdue correction to the polarizing leftward pivot and emotional hysteria of the previous decade, or a gross abdication of the
Fourth Estate’s responsibilities to hold power accountable. (A similar debate is ensuing about Meta’s decision to forgo fact-checking.) Either way, it is indisputably awkward—most notably for the journalists whose righteous indignation was either performative then or easily bought off now.

In any event, Thompson’s decree was yet another blow to morale for a network that now sits alongside Job, Antoine Doinel, and
Umberto D. Ferrari on the Mount Rushmore of Eternal Suffering. And the hits kept coming. After being restricted to supplying background noise for a pivotal moment in world history, CNN learned the next day that it had averaged less than one-fifth of the audience it had during Joe Biden’s inauguration just four years ago. Between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. ET on Monday, a mere 1.7 million people were watching CNN, down from 10 million in 2021. Meanwhile, more than 10 million
watched Trump’s second inauguration on Fox News.

Alas, the most devastating blow is still to come. In November, I
reported that Thompson was planning to implement another round of layoffs that would impact hundreds of employees across the organization, offsetting the company’s financial burden as it strives to simultaneously manage costs and drive a new direct-to-consumer strategy that will, alas, never fill the gaping hole in the P&L created by the decline of linear. This, of course, is
part of his long-term effort to slim down the organization, facilitate capital allocations, and manage decline while—one still hopes—creating a more formidable and sustainable digital business. But, increasingly, it all seems like requisite business hygiene preempting an inevitable sale or spin-off.

I am now told that Thompson is planning to formally announce those layoffs tomorrow. He and other
network leaders like Virginia Moseley and Eric Sherling spent Wednesday in back-to-back meetings with divisional leaders, top producers, and top talent in order to prepare them for the impending news. I am told that certain divisions and show teams will be consolidated or eliminated entirely. Production on some shows will also move from New York or Washington to Atlanta in order to save costs. 

As I noted in November, Thompson is also planning to create new positions across the organization to service his long-awaited digital transformation. In a recent town hall, he said he had $70 million to spend on those investments this year. Then again, as I’ve also noted, the investment would be far more meaningful if it weren’t offsetting the tens of millions in losses the network will face as a result of its diminished linear
influence. 

Anyway, this is all sad, even semi-tragic—and the lingering sense of hopelessness was the true leitmotif of the inauguration broadcast. But if Trump can come back from the wilderness, albeit slightly changed, perhaps CNN can too.