CNN LAYOFFS TRIGGER MORALE CRASH

With cost rollbacks, including numerous layoffs, hitting CNN, morale at the cable news network’s Washington bureau has plummeted, sources at the bureau have told Politico.com. "Morale at the CNN Washington Bureau is about as strong as it is inside the Redskins’ locker room — and the management is just as bad," one CNN staffer told the website. Although CNN had indicated that some 300 jobs would be cut from across all its bureaus, some 50 employees have already been let go at the Washington bureau alone. The irony is that along with the layoffs, remaining personnel are being given raises. Said one staffer, "The management in the bureau is forcing most remaining producers to sign contracts, because they are worried even more people are going to leave the company, and the bureau can’t run with fewer people than are staffed now. So as a huge group has been let go, [others] are getting promotions and huge raises, which has made the last month horrible between the haves and have nots."