After being pulled from the programming schedule at CNN and replaced with "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown," it has been reported that Jim Acosta will now leave the network for good. He was offered a "graveyard" shift that would have seen him occupying the midnight to 2 a.m. programming schedule but he refused, according to the Status newsletter.
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Last week, Mark Thompson, Chairman and CEO of CNN, removed Acosta from the network's programming. Acosta's weekday show that aired at 10 a.m. was quickly replaced, and Acosta was nowhere to be found.
According to The Independent, it was Thompson who offered the midnight shift to Acosta just days after President Donald Trump took office. It is safe to say that Jim Acosta was not amused by this. Potentially, Acosta would've been required to move to Los Angeles, where the show was to be produced. Thompson assured Acosta that this decision and proposal was not because of ratings. Moreover, he even presented the offer as a promotion.
Reportedly, Jim Acosta thought about this proposal but eventually began telling his colleagues that he decided to leave CNN. That is why it is expected that the longtime CNN anchor will talk about his future on his Tuesday broadcast.
CNN In Trouble
At the same time, CNN then laid off around 6 percent of its workforce. This effectively left 200 employees without a job. "Our objective is a simple one: to shift CNN's gravity towards the platforms and products where the audience themselves are shifting," Thompson said in an internal memo, according to The Independent. "By doing that, to secure CNN's future as one of the world's greatest news organizations."
CNN employees then described Thompson as "tone-deaf and insensitive." An employee said that the CEO "gave the least inspiring remarks about layoffs that I've ever heard."
Many have suggested that Thompson's proposal to Acosta was to appease President Donald Trump. He has been very critical of Acosta, bashing him constantly and labeling CNN "fake news." Acosta, despite the network taking a moderate approach toward the president, continued being outspokenly critical of Trump. So, one can only wonder if moving Acosta to a graveyard shift was a promotion or a way to save face given the current political climate.
