CNN.com Ends Live Anchored Video News Service

CNN.com has abandoned its live streaming video news service, instead looking to focus its attention to its on-demand offering.  CNN.com Live offered anchored newscasts throughout the day from 9am until 7pm ET, employing its own team of four anchors and a number of behind the scenes producers.  All have been laid off as a result.  The move however doesn't signal an end to live news events on CNN.com, which will continue to show news conferences and breaking news events. 

The presenters who were let go are Reggie Aqui, Nicole Lapin, Naamua Delaney and Melissa Long, along with several un-identified production staff.  Well, until today.  Jenny Wilburn, a now former producer for CNN.com Live has been sounding off about being laid off on her blog.  She's posted several times about the issue over the past few days and seems considerably angry at the chain of events.  She writes;

Yes, I got laid off.  It happens to all good CNN'ers after a while. We expect it. Along with the cranky HR rep who refuses to let you say goodbye to your friends.

So now I have over 5 months of severance on my hands and absolutely NO desire to look for a job. Does that make me a deadbeat? I don't care.

Here's the thing. Getting laid off doesn't really matter to me because I didn't actually like that job very much. Well, I liked the job, love news, but I worked with some really unpleasant people who made work not so much fun. In my career, I've worked with some of the biggest anchors in TV news, I've worked with some of the most dramatic producers in the world...and yet, this job was the most stressful and ridiculous gig I've ever had. The stuff I've put up with over the last 4 years made sorority rush seem like the most genuine and honest experience I've ever had. I've been saying for years... yes, years... that I need to get out of there, I just never had the balls.

A little ray of light from this story may be however, that CNN.com do intend to employ at least seven new producers for its original content production team which it aims to set up in the coming months.