There's probably no better indication of the direction CNN intends to go when Mark Thompson took Acosta off his morning show and proposed midnight slot. The veteran anchor has been with CNN since 2007, and according to Oliver Darcy did not take the news well.
Source: The Independent
CNN anchor Jim Acosta is expected to leave the network after his morning time slot was yanked and he was instead offered the “graveyard” shift from midnight to 2 a.m. ET, according to Oliver Darcy in his Status News newsletter.
Despite being one of the most popular hosts on the ratings-challenged cable news channel, network chief Mark Thompson last week removed Acosta from his 10 a.m. weekday show to shake up the dayside lineup. The programming changes were announced the same day CNN laid off six percent of its workforce as the company looks to pivot to a digital-first approach.
Prior to making the move official, Thompson called up Acosta and proposed that the CNN mainstay depart his morning slot — where he had been posting some of the network’s highest viewership for the past year — and move to late night, which has been described as the “Siberia of television news.”
Acosta is expected to address his future on his Tuesday broadcast, The Independent has learned.
UPDATE: And gone. Strong statement.
Transcript of statement:
And I just wanted to end today's show by thanking all of the wonderful people who work behind the scenes at this network.
0:05
You may have seen some reports about me and the show and after giving all of this some careful consideration and weighing an alternative time slots, CNN offered me, I've decided to move on.
I am grateful to CNN for the nearly 18 years I've spent here doing the news.
People often ask me if the highlight of my career at CNN was at the White House covering Donald Trump.
Actually, no, that moment came here when I covered former President Barack Obama's trip to Cuba in 2016 and had the chance to question the dictator there, Raul Castro, about the island's political prisoners.
As the son of a Cuban refugee, I took home this lesson.
It is never a good time to bow down to a tyrant.
I've always believed it's the job of the press to hold power to account.
I've always tried to do that here at CNN and I plan on going doing all of that in the future.
One final message, don't give in to the lies.
Don't give in to the fear.
Hold on to the truth.
And to hope.
Even if you have to get out your phone, record that message, I will not give in to the lies.
I will not give in to the fear.
Post it on your social media so people can hear from you too.
I'll have more to say about my plans in the coming days, but until then, I wanna thank all of you for tuning in.
It's been an honor to be welcomed into your home for all these years.
That's the news reporting from Washington.
I'm Jim Acosta.
