Every Major Cable and Broadcast News Network Now Run By Women
Credit: Jai Lennard/CNN
With the appointment of three executives — Amy Entelis, Virginia Moseley and Eric Sherling — to lead CNN in the wake of the departure of boss Chris Licht, every major cable and broadcast news network is now run, at least in part, by women.
They include Kimberly Godwin of ABC News, Rashida Jones of MSNBC, Rebecca Blumenstein of NBC News, Wendy McMahon of CBS News, and Suzanne Scott of Fox News Media.
Entelis, who served as CNN’s executive vice president of talent and content development, was named as part of a two-thirds female leadership triumvirate, along with Moseley, executive vice president of editorial; and Sherling, executive vice president of U.S. programming. CNN has not yet announced who will permanently replace Licht, who was ousted after a chaotic tenure that culminated with a bombshell profile in The Atlantic.
“We are in good hands, allowing us to take the time we need to run a thoughtful and thorough search for a new leader,” David Zaslav, the chief executive of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery said in an emailed statement to CNN staff.
According to Forbes, Entelis is the frontrunner to be named CNN’s next chairman and CEO. Other executives mentioned include COO David Leavy, Shawna Thomas of CBS Mornings, and even Jeff Zucker — who Licht replaced.
“Sounds like a wild card, but stranger things have happened,” Forbes reported regarding Zucker possibly coming back to lead CNN.
Fortune reported that female executives sometimes find they’ve been promoted to lead no-win situations.
“Many promotions of women to the C-suite—namely CNN’s, where ratings have cratered recently—may be prime examples of a glass cliff, the phenomenon where “a female executive is only given the top job in an impossible situation—whether that’s a time of crisis or when failure is all but certain,” according to Fortune.
“Often, executives consider women as the right choice to clean up a corporate mess, but a poor fit during strong periods, Emma Hinchliffe wrote in Fortune’s Broadsheet in April.”
