Chris Cillizza, HLN live programing among CNN cuts: reports

Journalist Chris Cillizza and a number of staffers at HLN are among the employees affected by sweeping layoffs and job cuts being implemented by CNN this week, according to multiple reports.

Cillizza, a former Washington Post reporter who wrote a blog on politics for CNN.com and appeared frequently on the channel's various shows to give political analysis, was laid off on Thursday, Variety first reported.

The outlet reported CNN correspondents Alison Kosik, Martin Savidge, Alex Field and Mary Ann Fox were also let go this week.

CNN will no longer produce live programs for HLN, a source at the network told Variety, and the network will simulcast its newly revamped morning news program “CNN This Morning” in place of “Morning Express,” HLN's current morning news program 

New network CEO Chris Licht on Wednesday wrote to staff he would begin rolling out a series of layoffs in the coming days and would share more information about who would be affected soon.

“I know these changes affect both our departing colleagues and those who remain, and we have resources designed to support you,” Licht said in his note.

The job cuts at CNN come at the end of a difficult year for the network, during which the company was sold to media conglomerate discovery, its former president Jeff Zucker was ousted and its paid subscriber streaming service was shuttered only days after launch.