Incoming CNN Boss Announces He’s Ditching Twitter Because it Can ‘Skew What’s Really Important in the World’

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CNN’s incoming new president, Chris Licht, offered some insight into how he plans to helm the embattled cable news giant on Monday, telling his 26.7 thousand Twitter followers he’s “logging off” the day after he starts his new job.

“May 2 will be my first official day in the office at CNN & my last day on Twitter,” Licht, who is leaving his role as executive producer of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, to take over CNN, wrote on Twitter.

“Twitter can be a great journalistic tool, but it can also skew what’s really important in the world. I’m logging off & looking forward to working with the incredible team at CNN,” he added.

May 2 will be my first official day in the office at CNN & my last day on Twitter. Twitter can be a great journalistic tool, but it can also skew what’s really important in the world. I’m logging off & looking forward to working with the incredible team at CNN.

— Chris Licht (@ChrisLicht) April 18, 2022

Licht, who is not a prolific tweeter, raised eyebrows across the media world with the announcement as journalists, pundits and news consumers look for insight into how he may or may not transform CNN and take on the ratings dominant Fox News.

“Our viewers demand the truth from us, and I want to learn the truth from you. Together, we will double-down on what’s working well and quickly eliminate what’s not,” Licht wrote in late February in a note to CNN employees after his hiring announcement was made public, one of the first glimpses into Licht’s leadership style.

Axios’ Mike Allen also reported at the time that under Licht CNN is likely to move more toward the center and away from opinion news.

“Under new chief Chris Licht, CNN will dial down the prime-time partisanship and double down on the network’s news-gathering muscle, top sources tell me,” wrote Allen.

The decision to leave Twitter, apparently more as an observer than a content creator, echoes what little has been made public of Licht’s approach to CNN thus far, as Twitter is widely known as a partisan echo chamber.

Other top news executives, like Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott and president Jay Wallace, have also been off Twitter since taking the helm. MSNBC chief Rashida Jones, who took over the network in February 2021, also has not tweeted since August 2021.

Licht’s announcement was quickly compared to New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet’s recent memo outlining expectations for the paper’s staff regarding Twitter.

Baquet wrote the Times needed a “reset” when it comes to Twitter and issued new guidelines for all staff, which both warned against “subtweeting” criticism about colleagues and noted that “Masthead editors, department heads and our Standards department will pay close attention to how all Times journalists use social media to ensure it is in line with our social media guidelines.”