WarnerMedia, the parent company of CNN, is restricting travel for its news and sports employees due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
In a memo sent to staffers on Monday morning, Jeff Zucker — the chairman of WarnerMedia News and Sports — instructed employees that all intercontinental travel needed to be personally approved by Zucker. Staffing for upcoming political events like the Democratic debate, as well as NBA and NCAA coverage, will also be limited to only those who are “absolutely critical” to getting content out or “meeting basic revenue-generating needs.”
“It goes without saying that nothing is more important to us than keeping you safe. We also are aware that employees within News and Sports, particularly those of you in newsgathering at CNN and those of you involved with ongoing sports coverage, face unique challenges with these new restrictions. We want to do everything we can to enable you to keep doing your jobs, but also to stay safe,” Zucker wrote.
For any non-intercontinental travel, Zucker instructed staffers that they would need approval from division heads or their senior executive designees.
“Nothing is more important than your well-being. While some of these protocols may seem inconvenient, they are being taken out of an abundance of caution to keep you all safe,” Zucker wrote. “It is unclear how long these restrictions will remain in place, but we will continue to communicate regularly as the situation both domestically and globally changes.”