Chris Licht Apologizes And Vows To ‘Fight Like Hell’ To Win Back Trust Inside CNN

CNN chief executive Chris Licht promised to “fight like hell” to win back trust among the network’s journalists and staff in the wake of a devastating profile published Friday in The Atlantic, which portrayed Licht as detached and distant, even attending a dinner with CNNers in which he didn’t talk to anyone, but focused on his phone, reading an article about himself.

“You deserve a leader who will be in the trenches, fighting to ensure CNN remains the world’s most trusted name in news,” Licht said on the network’s 9 a.m. ET editorial call. Former CNN Reliable Sources anchor Brian Stelter published quotes from the call on Twitter, which included an apology:

Stelter, writing in New York magazine, cited conversations with numerous CNNers who said the Atlantic profile “cemented” anti-Licht sentiment, with employees saying “he’s over,” “he’s done,” and “there’s no coming back from that profile.”

Licht’s Monday morning apology comes as his boss, Warner Bros. Discovery
WBD
CEO David Zaslav, has moved one of his top lieutenants, David Leavy, to join CNN as its new chief operating officer with a mission to “survey and repair the damage.”

Stelter reported that Licht told CNN associates over the weekend that he had “nothing to lose now” and vowed to win back the people who’ve lost confidence in his leadership. But he faces wave after wave of challenges, from the massive criticism of CNN’s recent town hall with Donald Trump to overall declines in the network’s ratings, particularly in prime time. Some CNNers have reportedly taken their concerns to former chief executive Jeff Zucker, leading to a story in The New York Times
NYT
asking “Could Jeff Zucker Fix CNN? He Seems to Think So.”