On Saturday, CNN announced it’s closing its offices nationwide to everyone except essential workers, reverting to its 2020 COVID protocols amid a rise in cases and the omicron variant.
“If your job does not REQUIRE you to be in the office in order to do it, please work from elsewhere,” CNN president Jeff Zucker wrote in a memo. “We are doing this out of an abundance of caution. And it will also protect those who will be in the office by minimizing the number of people who are there.”
“Our newsgathering teams will be re-evaluating assignments and adjusting travel accordingly,” he wrote.
New York, where CNN has most of its key executives and on-air staff, is the epicenter of the latest viral surge. Atlanta still has several hundred CNN employees, many of whom work downtown at CNN Center.
CNN is part of WarnerMedia, and the policy directive will impact all WarnerMedia offices in Atlanta, including Turner Sports and WarnerMedia networks such as Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, TCM, TNT, truTV and TBS. WarnerMedia has an estimated 6,000 employees in Atlanta.
CNN’s offices in recent months have been open to employees voluntarily for those who are vaccinated. Zucker has postponed a full reopening date multiple times.
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