Starting Wednesday, CNN is closing its Philippines division, laying off 300 employees. UNN writes about this with reference to the company's statement.
CNN Philippines will cease operations across all media platforms effective Wednesday, January 31, 2024
Details
This decision follows significant financial losses incurred in recent years, despite strenuous efforts to adapt and innovate in a rapidly changing and complex media landscape, the report also said.
CNN Philippines was launched in 2015 under a license agreement between Turner and Nine Media Network, a Philippine company that is a subsidiary of ALC Group of Companies, previously founded by the late Ambassador Antonio Cabangon-Chua. The license agreement between Turner and Nine Media was to run until the end of December.
According to market experts, the transaction resulted in losses of more than $89 million.
The closure means that 300 employees, as well as contractors and suppliers, will be directly affected. Nine Media Corporation President Benjamin Ramos said that Nine Media's management is committed to providing fair severance packages to all employees.
Variety writes that the closure of CNN Philippines will call into question media pluralism in the Philippines, as this country is one of the most dangerous in the world for journalists, where governments have interfered with the press and media. In particular, Nobel Prize-winning journalist Maria Ressa was persecuted in the Philippines, and ABS-CBN, a TV channel critical of former President Rodrigo Duterte, was deprived of its broadcasting license in 2020.
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