



Oh, man, this is sad and unexpected news: 16-year veteran CNN reporter and anchor Miles O'Brien will be departing CNN, as the network closes its sci/space/enviromental/tech news division. Snip from mediabistro:

O'Brien's departure comes as the network dismantles its science, space, environment and technology unit in Atlanta. That includes O'Brien as well as six producers. O'Brien has been CNN's chief technology and environment correspondent since being replaced as anchor of American Morning in April 2007.

The network's environmental coverage will continue through the Planet in Peril franchise, which is part of the Anderson Cooper-hosted show AC360. The LA Times has an item about these changes, too. I won't go through a laundry list of the departing names here, but I've had the pleasure of meeting and/or briefly working with a number of them as a guest on various CNN shows. They're talented, dedicated, rare professionals.

Miles is truly one of the greats. I can't think of a single broadcast journalist as knowledgeable on space, aeronautics, and other tech topics. I am so sorry to hear this news.

Update: The screengrab above from Miles O'Brien's twitter feed. (Thanks, Matt West)