The 66-year-old Thompson had already been working in the United States in recent years, where he led and digitized the newspaper ‘New York Times’. On Wednesday, CNN’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, announced that he will lead the American news channel. He replaces Chris Licht who left in June after barely thirteen months. Thompson will take office on October 9. “The world needs accurate and reliable news more than ever,” he said Wednesday.
CNN has lost much of its popularity under Light: it is now third behind Fox News and MSNBC. The channel came under fire, among other things, after it gave former President Donald Trump an extensive and uncritical stage.