CNN cut or reduced 50 positions across multiple divisions on Thursday, changing roles and reducing positions and salaries across the board, CNN said.
"There is essentially no head count change," a spokeswoman for the network wrote in an email. "Fifty positions have been impacted. Roles will change."
CNN President Jeff Zucker met with newsroom reporters on Thursday to tell them the news, an insider said. The cuts mainly affect news producers and managers, some of whom will be invited to reapply for new or "updated" positions at lower salaries.
"Many will get these jobs," said the spokeswoman, noting that the situation was "complicated."
The insider said Zucker's plan is to reduce packaged news stories to three or four per day and described the reaction in the newsroom as "shell-shocked."
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Producers were invited to reapply for jobs after their current employment ends on or by June 13. Many jobs will be posted today and in coming weeks.
Some of the eliminated positions also came from the digital divisions, which the insider described as a "bloodbath in Atlanta."
The layoffs are part of an ongoing process of reducing costs and restructuring the network, which has seen a ratings resurgence from coverage of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. CNN fired 16 employees from the Image and Sound division in March.
"This is part of a continuation of us working to integrate television and digital newsgathering operations," the spokesperson said.
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