With the struggling CNN clutching at straws, departing anchor Ana Cabrera is grabbing some peacock feathers, according to new reports.
Cabrera announced on Thursday that she will be leaving CNN.
“Goodbyes are hard. Thank you CNN for everything. (My final show will be a week from today, Dec. 22) I’m looking forward to starting a new chapter in my career, and excited for new opportunities, challenges, and growth to come!” she wrote.
Goodbyes are hard. Thank you CNN for everything. 🙏(My final show will be a week from today, Dec. 22)
I’m looking forward to starting a new chapter in my career, and excited for new opportunities, challenges, and growth to come! https://t.co/lHHKnDWPRe
— Ana Cabrera (@AnaCabrera) December 15, 2022
Although she made no mention of her next stop, reports from Variety, the New York Post and the Los Angeles Times – all based on sources that the various media outlets did not name – said Cabrera would be heading to NBC Universal’s MSNBC. CNN cannot be particularly thrilled that she’s jumping ship to a direct competitor.
Cabrera has been holding down the 1 p.m. hour on CNN.
Variety and the Post said that their sources indicated Cabrera was likely to become an anchor at MSNBC for its 11 a.m. time slot, which has been open since the departure of Craig Melvin.
Anchor Ana Cabrera is leaving CNN, where she’s worked since 2013.
“I’m firmly committed to my work as a journalist in the next stage of my career,” a statement to the Daily News said.https://t.co/T9gpVEO6Sh
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) December 15, 2022
The Post report said that unlike many who have been pushed from CNN as it tries to jettison costs, Cabrera’s decision was her decision, not that of the network.
Assuming Cabrera lands at MSNBC, there will be some familiar faces awaiting her. MSNBC recently hired former CNN journalist Laura Jarrett to cover the Supreme Court and has also hired Rebecca Kutler.
CNN recently cut correspondents Alison Kosik, Martin Savidge, Alex Field, Mary Ann Fox, and Chris Cillizza and ended live programming at HLN. The cutbacks come amid ongoing ratings struggles for CNN post-Donald Trump.
The network has also laid off production and other staff to cut costs. The Wrap reported that CNN would be cutting what it said were “several dozen” digital jobs.
A memo from CNN boss Chris Licht to employees that was released at the time of the cuts, said that CNN is “also shifting our approach to paid contributors. In some areas, we will rely more on our CNN journalists.”
Programming staff will “see some reductions in show staffs and, in some cases, the combination of teams for our dayside and weekend lineups,” the memo said.
CNN after mass layoffs, has to downsize and move their headquarters…“Well, this is what happens when you spend seven years whoring out your credibility to please a gnome named Jeff Zucker and put all your eggs in the Trump Russiagate scandal,Go Woke go Broke! pic.twitter.com/3JrWc9v4B6
— richard rimmer (@Sydsdad1111) December 10, 2022
Some, like Cabrera, are just going. CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr will be leaving the network once her contract expires.
Cabrera joined CNN in 2013 as a correspondent. Before that, she had been an anchor at KMGH in Denver and an anchor and reporter at KHQ and KAYU in Spokane, Washington.