Now is Not the Time to Make Cuts at CNN

It's never good when an accountant runs a cable news network. 

Founding CEO of CNN Reese Schonfeld has some advice for CNN, don't make cuts.

Schonfeld thinks that Turner CEO John Martin would be wise to keep the money in the budget at CNN.

Schonfeld writes on the Huffington Post:

From my experience at CNN, I know it is impossible to predict the amount of money needed to cover the news. News events set their own costs and cannot be known in advance. All news companies have sums of money put aside for unexpected breaking news stories, but who could ever have imagined a situation where world-changing stories were occurring in the Ukraine, Gaza, Ferguson, while at the same time trying to cover ISIS and an Iceland volcano? 

I hope Mr. Martin doesn't count on "reducing spending" on CNN news operations. Poor Jeffrey Zucker is having a hard enough time running his business on the budget he has. Cuts won't help him, or, I believe, CNN's bottom line.

MSNBC ratings have been declining for a while, and CNN has been making slight gains in its audience size. Now is not the time to begin "reducing spending," certainly not if you're trying to maximize "growth and profitability."