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CNN parted ways with veteran White House correspondent John Harwood on Friday, in what network insiders saw as the latest evidence of a shift to a less politically charged tone under new leader Chris Licht.
Harwood, who could not be reached for comment, appeared on CNN Friday morning, reporting from the White House grounds. But at noon, he announced his departure on Twitter. He wrote that he is “proud of the work” he did at CNN and “[looks] Can’t wait to find out what’s next.”
Harwood, a Wall Street Journal reporter, joined the network in January 2020, after serving as CNBC’s chief Washington correspondent from 2006 to 2019. According to two people familiar with the situation, Harwood still had time to was left with his contract with CNN, suggesting that network brass decided to end his tenure early.
CNN representatives declined to comment on the reason for his departure. “We appreciate John’s work covering the White House and wish him the best,” they said in a statement.
As a reporter who often provided political analysis, Harwood was a regular presence on the network’s airwaves who was “clearly in demand by the shows,” said a surprised CNN insider.
His departure follows the abrupt departure of CNN’s chief media correspondent, Brian Stelter, host of the weekly news program “Reliable Sources,” which had aired for three decades until it was canceled last month. Like Harwood, Stelter had time left on his contract. Another longtime CNN commentator, legal expert Jeffrey Toobin, announced his departure on August 12.
Several current and former CNN employees who spoke to The Washington Post, most of whom spoke on condition of anonymity to speak candidly, are interpreting the sudden exodus as proof that Licht, who joined the network as president and CEO in May, is beginning his tenure by ousting voices who had often been critical of former President Donald Trump and his allies in an effort to present a new, more ideologically neutral CNN. This aligns with a view repeatedly expressed by David Zaslav, the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Zaslav hired Licht to replace Jeff Zucker, the network’s ousted longtime leader, who had encouraged an earlier shift in tone at CNN by allowing the network’s stars to express more emotion and opinion.
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“People are scared,” said a CNN reporter. “It almost seems like there’s a pattern. Is there a purge? It seems like they’re sending a message: ‘Watch what you say. Watch what you do.’
Licht has provided little guidance publicly on a new mission for CNN, leaving some employees untethered. “Longtime CNN personalities are disappearing and viewers don’t know why,” said another CNN insider, noting that Licht hasn’t hired many new voices to replace them.
Harwood’s vocal commentary set him apart from many of his CNN colleagues. In his latest reporting appearance on Friday morning, Harwood called Trump a “dishonest demagogue” when he discussed President Biden’s speech from Philadelphia the night before. Harwood added that the “central point” of Biden’s speech, which he asserted that Trump and his supporters pose a threat to democracy, “is true.”
Harwood acknowledged on air that his own statement deviated from the conventions of traditional journalism. “We’ve been led to believe that there are two different political parties with different views and we don’t take sides in honest disagreements between them,” he said. “But we are not talking about that. These are not honest disagreements.”
Harwood’s comment appeared to be an intentional “last salvo,” said Wajahat Ali, a political commentator who served as a CNN contributor in 2019 and 2020. “I don’t think it was an accident,” Ali said. .
Ali speculated that the forced departures of Stelter and Harwood will send a message to other CNN reporters that they should hold back their political analysis for fear of crossing a line in opinion, at the risk of losing “a job that everybody wants “.
Licht has told CNN staff that he hopes to see more Republican politicians making guest appearances. He visited Capitol Hill in July and held meetings with key Democrats and Republicans.
But the network has rejected suggestions that Licht was specifically trying to curry favor with Republicans, saying it just wants to make CNN “a place for fair and respectful dialogue, analysis and debate.”
Licht’s first actions on the job are being watched closely in light of comments from John Malone, a major Warner Bros. shareholder. Discovery, which told CNBC last fall that it “would like to see CNN evolve back into the kind of journalism it started with, and actually, we have reporters.”
In an interview last month with the New York Times, Malone denied he was involved in the decision to fire Stelter. He said he wants “the news side of CNN to be more centrist” but that he is “not in control or directly involved.”
In a memo to staff in May, Licht said he wants CNN to help restore the trust many people have lost in the media by “fearlessly speaking truth to power, challenging the status quo, questioning ‘groupthink’ ‘ and educating viewers and readers with straight facts and insightful commentary, while always being respectful of differing points of view.”
But one CNN reporter who spoke to The Post said colleagues are still trying to figure out where, exactly, the new lines are being drawn. “I think they expect people to guess what to do.”
A veteran network producer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment, expressed concern about how the latest exits — and the message they’ve sent internally — will affect coverage of the upcoming U.S. election. mid-term and presidential, which could include Trump as a candidate.
“It’s a really confusing and unsettling time from top to bottom at CNN,” the producer said. “I don’t know anyone who is happy right now.”