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AP Photo Morale sinks at CNN's DC bureau

CNN's Washington bureau is suffering from low morale and high anxiety in the wake of weeks of layoffs and buyouts — with one employee likening the place to the Redskins’ locker room.

In conversations with POLITICO, sources at the bureau spoke of tension in the office as several longtime staffers have been let go while others are being promoted and given raises. On Friday, during the most recent departures, "people were crying all over the bureau," one D.C. employee said.

"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," another CNN staffer said.

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The latest round of layoffs and buyouts was meant to cut roughly 300 positions from across CNN’s bureaus, or 8 percent of its total staff. In Washington, roughly 50 employees were let go — 27 through layoffs and roughly two dozen through buyouts. Meanwhile, CNN DC has created 20 new positions on the digital side. The network said that a few of the laid-off employees have reapplied for new positions at the network, and at least three have been accepted so far.

The latest exit was Michelle Jaconi, an executive producer and D.C. bureau stalwart, who declined to relocate to New York and bid adieu to her colleagues in a lengthy email on Friday. Jaconi was escorted out of the bureau immediately after sending the email.

Edie Emery, the senior director of public relations in Washington, declined to comment on newsroom morale. Following the layoffs and buyouts in October, CNN D.C. executives held meetings with staffers in which they discussed the layoffs and other changes at the network.

Most staffers conceded that the network was in need of a shakeup, and some commended CNN President Jeff Zucker for moving to streamline an operation that has become overpopulated and lethargic. But they expressed concern that the executives working under Zucker lack the management skills needed to guide staff through the transition and complained of a lack of guidance or reassurance from the newsroom leadership.

"No one has said, 'This is tough, but here's the road ahead,'" an employee said.

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"Things have been horrible inside the Washington bureau," another staffer said. "On Friday, which was everyone's last day, people were crying all over the bureau, but managers hid in offices and didn't go to any of the goodbye office parties."

"Many employees who are left are terrified of being let go," the staffer said. "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."

This post has been updated to include specific details about the layoffs and buyouts. One source's quote has been augmented for clarity.

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