Three executives named Virginia Moseley, Amy Entelis, and Eric Sherling have been appointed to lead CNN after the departure of Chris Licht. This means that every major cable and broadcast news network is now partially run by women.
Rashida Jones works for MSNBC, Kimberly Godwin for ABC News, Wendy McMahon for CBS News, Rebecca Blumenstein for NBC News, and Suzanne Scott for Fox News Media.
Amy Entelis was appointed as part of a leadership team that is two-thirds female, alongside Moseley and Sherling. Entelis previously served as CNN’s executive vice president of talent and content development. Moseley is the executive vice president of editorial, while Sherling is the executive vice president of U.S. programming.
The permanent replacement for Licht at CNN has not been announced yet.
According to Fortune, female executives may sometimes be promoted to leadership in a no-win situation. Numerous women promoted to high-level executive positions, such as those at CNN, may be experiencing a glass cliff scenario. This is when a female executive is appointed to leadership during a crisis or when failure is highly likely. Fortune has described this as a common phenomenon.
David Zaslav, the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery’s parent company, stated in an email to CNN staff that they have sufficient time to conduct a careful and comprehensive search for a new leader, indicating they are in good hands.
Forbes reports that Entelis is the leading candidate for CNN’s chairman and CEO position. Additional executives mentioned are David Leavy, the COO, Shawna Thomas from CBS Mornings, and Jeff Zucker, who Licht replaced.
Forbes reported that Zucker’s return to lead CNN might be unexpected, but it is not impossible.
According to Emma Hinchliffe’s article in Fortune’s Broadsheet from April, executives view women as suitable for fixing corporate problems but not as good a fit during prosperous times.
