Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Jane Fraser-led Citigroup plans to expand in China, the WNBA would consider playing games in Saudi Arabia, and women are now running all the major U.S. news networks following Chris Licht’s exit from CNN. Have a great Thursday!
– Top story. All week, the media has been fixated on one industry story: the fate of CNN. After a damning profile in The Atlantic, CEO Chris Licht was ousted from his role leading the network yesterday.
CNN announced that Amy Entelis, executive vice president of talent and content development, and Virginia Moseley, executive vice president of editorial, will be part of a trio to lead the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned network as it searches for a replacement CEO.
That announcement results in a notable milestone: All major U.S. news networks are now led or co-led by women. Besides CNN’s new leaders, there’s Kimberly Godwin at ABC News; Rashida Jones at MSNBC, Rebecca Blumenstein at NBC News; Wendy McMahon at CBS News; and Suzanne Scott at Fox News.
As my colleague Jane Thier points out in a Fortune story, women’s leadership in news extends beyond TV. We can’t forget New York Times CEO Meredith Kopit Levien, Washington Post editor-in-chief Sally Buzbee, Wall Street Journal editor Emma Tucker, or female leaders at Reuters, Fortune, and McClatchy. Most of these execs have gotten their jobs within the past few years.
News media is an industry with influence beyond its size. These CEOs and presidents are not Fortune 500 leaders, but their decisions shape the public’s understanding of the world we live in every day. It’s also an industry that was rocked by #MeToo, from the end of Les Moonves’s reign at CBS to the firings of prominent journalists like Charlie Rose and Mark Halperin.
The hope is that the women running news organizations will elevate stories and perspectives that may have been overlooked in the past.
Jones, who heads MSNBC, reflected on leading a cable network at a Fortune Most Powerful Women dinner just last month. “How do I have an imprint on the industry where there are other women and especially women of color, who see that this is a thing that is possible to do?” Jones said she has asked herself in the two-and-a-half years since she began her job.
Entellis and Moseley’s new jobs at CNN are reminiscent of a “glass cliff;” they were only given the positions, on an interim basis, after their white male boss flamed out in dramatic fashion. CNN’s ratings are at a low; the network has a long way to go to win back viewers and the trust of its employees, many of whom questioned Licht’s tenure and his execution of a May town hall with Donald Trump.
As the network’s new shepherds step into chaotic circumstances, at least there are plenty of female peers (and competitors) in their industry to turn to for guidance. A few years ago, that would have seemed like a TV show fantasy.
Emma Hinchliffe
[email protected]
@_emmahinchliffe
The Broadsheet is Fortune’s newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women. Today’s edition was curated by Kinsey Crowley. Subscribe here.
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- Enthusiastic. Citigroup's CEO Jane Fraser has committed to expanding business in China after her first visit to the country as CEO. Many CEOs who have visited China have been hesitant to publicly declare they will ramp up business in China as they tiptoe around the diplomatic tension with the U.S. Reuters
- Game on? Following the shocker merger of the PGA and Saudi-backed LIV professional golf tours, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said the women's basketball league would consider hosting a game in Saudi Arabia if the opportunity presented itself. “It is something that I think we would think through. We’re running a very player-led league and I would go to them first and say: ‘Where do you want to play?’” Saudi Arabia is accused of sports-washing its human rights record. Bloomberg
- Conspiracy charges. The founder and a former head of sales at OneTaste, a sexual wellness startup, have been charged with conspiracy for allegedly manipulating, withholding wages, and pressuring former employees to perform sexual acts. Company leaders Nicole Daedone and Rachel Cherwitz claimed they could help sexual assault survivors get past their trauma, but instead allegedly subjected survivors to debt and forced labor. The current CEO calls the charges "completely unjustified." Bloomberg
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Toyota's VC firm Woven Capital promoted Michiko Kato to partner. Catherine LaCour is joining Panorama's board of directors. Amy Finney is the new CEO at Bicycle Health.
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- Outlier. Hong Kong's 122-year-old utilities company CLP Holdings added two women directors to its board, making it part of a small group of companies to reach Hong Kong's goal of having 30% of board seats held by women. Japan Times
- Close miss. A survey of CEOs shows that their economic outlook remains positive, indicating that some believe the economy may achieve a soft landing from inflation and avoid a recession. Avoiding the debt limit crisis helped, according to General Motors CEO and Business Roundtable chair Mary Barra, who said, "business leaders stand ready to work with lawmakers to advance policies that strengthen the economy and American competitiveness." Axios
- Man funk. Bath & Body Works is trying another strategy to sustain pandemic-fueled growth: attracting more men as consumers. Bath & Body Works president Julie Rosen is confident that men's products such as beard oil and shaving gel can double the consumer base revenue of $400 million in 2022 within a couple of years. Experts are skeptical that more men will visit the brick-and-mortar Bath & Body Works stores often found in malls. Bloomberg
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"If we stay positive and play together, we will make history. I think we can shock the world."
—Kerly Theus, goalkeeper for the Haitian women's national soccer team. The team is headed to the Women's World Cup for the first time ever.
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