Alex MacCallum is returning to CNN as the network’s Executive Vice President of Digital Products and Services, according to a memo from the network.
MacCallum will oversee CNN’s suite of digital products that serve and engage millions of people globally on a daily basis. The news executive comes to CNN from the Washington Post where she served as chief revenue officer overseeing subscriptions, partnerships, and advertising.
This is not MacCallum’s first rodeo with CNN, having previously served as the network’s global head of product and general manager of CNN+ until July 2022. During her tenure at CNN, MacCallum guided the launch of CNN+ and re-structured the CNN website to better serve visitors.
Prior to joining CNN, MacCallum spent eight years at The New York Times in various roles at the publication. MacCallum was the founding Masthead editor for Audience in the Times newsroom. She was also the founding product leader of NYT Cooking.
MacCallum will begin her role at CNN on March 4 and will be based out of CNN’s New York bureau.
Just prior to CNN’s announcement of MacCallum’s hiring, The Wall Street Journal published an interview with CNN’s new CEO Mark Thompson, who said he plans to shake up the network’s operations and potentially explore subscription models.
“I’m not even sure that subscription is the right pathway for CNN,” Thompson said in the interview. “But I do think we need to start experimenting and exploring in the broader sense direct-to-consumer relationships and potentially direct-to-consumer paying relationships.”
