Ike Pappas Among CBS Personnel to Get Notices

CBS News President Howard Stringer sent the division a memo of apology today as he began laying off about 200 employees, including veteran Capitol Hill correspondent Ike Pappas and as many as 20 other on-air personnel.

Network sources who spoke on condition of anonymity said Pappas was offered a position at CBS Radio. Pappas was out of town and could not be reached for comment.

The layoffs include correspondents, producers, graphic artists and support staff. Sources said the on-air people were mostly newcomers who were not “household names.”

Budget-Cutting Plan

The layoffs are part of a budget-cutting plan Stringer presented Wednesday to Laurence Tisch, chief executive officer of CBS Inc. The plan is expected to save $31 million out of the news division’s $300-million annual budget.

“For those of you whose efforts and dedication to CBS News has been so ill-rewarded today, I can only offer my deepest regrets,” Stringer said in the memo. “For the rest of us, our public trust must still override our private grief.”

As part of the cutbacks, CBS canceled the 15-year-old Saturday morning children’s news show, “In the News,” and fired the staff. Correspondent Christopher Glenn will continue working on other projects, however.

“I’m quite sad about it,” said “In the News” executive producer Joel Heller, who will continue to work on other documentaries.

Closing Offices

The network announced Wednesday that it was closing its bureaus in Seattle; Bangkok, Thailand, and Warsaw.

Sources at the network said some employees were notified as early as Thursday that they were terminated. CBS officials said they hoped to get the firings over with by today, but the process might drag on until early next week.

“There will be no comment from CBS News on the specifics of the layoffs,” said a CBS spokeswoman. “It is a private matter between CBS News and its employees.”

The layoffs are part of a reorganization plan that will eliminate exclusive assignment of personnel to individual news broadcasts, allowing the network to assign them as needed.

Network officials said “60 Minutes” will continue to maintain a separate staff, although it would not avoid layoffs.

Executive producer Don Hewitt wouldn’t discuss the cuts, except to say, “It’s always sad when people lose their jobs.”