Paramount’s Eye Strain
On Wednesday morning, shortly after Paramount staffers received a memo from David Ellison outlining a “tough day” of layoffs ahead, CBS News staffers joined the regular 9 a.m. editorial call where newly minted editor in chief Bari Weiss and president Tom Cibrowski addressed them on the forthcoming cuts. “This is just an enormously difficult day for so many people that have given years of their lives to this company,” Weiss said.
Indeed, it was another rough day inside CBS News, which has experienced no shortage of them in recent months. Battered by high-level resignations, the news outlet saw around 100 cuts spread across all divisions, while other Paramount units, which have already endured several rounds of layoffs as the studio trimmed down under former management in preparation for its Skydance merger, were hit once again. Paramount is hardly alone in reducing staff in the entertainment and media sector, but coupled with other changes implemented in a short time at CBS News, staff morale continues to plummet amid the makeover being implemented under Ellison’s stewardship.
Although the timing of the layoffs had leaked out over the last few weeks, that did little to blunt the impact. This story is based on the accounts of more than a half dozen staffers inside CBS News…
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