CNN anchor Ana Cabrera gave an emotional farewell to the left-leaning news network on Thursday after working there for nine years.
“It’s hard to say goodbye to this place and the people here who mean so much to me,” Cabrera said during her final 1 p.m. show on the network. “However, I’m not saying goodbye to the work I love. I’m committed to learning and growing as a journalist and I’m excited to begin a new chapter in my career. But first I intend to take some time in the new year to just enjoy my family.”
Cabrera is expected to return after the holidays in a new capacity at MSNBC, where she will host the 11 a.m. show after completing the non-compete period specified in her CNN contract. MSNBC declined to comment.
Cabrera joined CNN in 2013. After a momentous vote on North Korea sanctions, she was the first to interview former U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley. She has also presented at two presidential town halls. Additionally, she oversaw the coverage of the 2017 terrorist assault on London Bridge for nine hours straight.
Goodbye CNN ❤️ pic.twitter.com/XtbmWyLh3a
— Ana Cabrera (@AnaCabrera) December 22, 2022
“My heart is full of all kinds of emotions right now but mostly gratitude,” she said. “I feel so lucky to have had so many incredible experiences and opportunities to explore and share the world with you and my CNN colleagues.”
Cabrera’s departure comes as CNN’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, looks to save $3.5 billion over the next three years. Chris Licht, the head of CNN, laid off hundreds of employees earlier this month, including well-known CNN personalities Alison Kosik, Martin Savidge, Alex Field, Mary Ann Fox, and Chris Cillizza. He also completely destroyed its sister network, HLN.
The network is also in the middle of a “neutral makeover” following abysmal ratings, which liberal journalist Tom Jones called “not necessarily good for our democracy.”
Jones, who is a senior media writer at Poynter, wrote an op-ed in September titled “CNN ‘hewing toward the center’ is not necessarily good for our democracy,” where he warned that the news network’s attempt to lean less to the left could be dangerous to the country.
“All Americans aren’t reasonable enough or willing to accept what’s true… and it isn’t just a small minority of those who aren’t willing to accept things such as the 2020 presidential election, the authenticity of our elections and other bedrocks of our democracy,” Jones wrote.
