CNN Programming Executive Resigns

Paul Amos, executive vice president in charge of programming for Cable News Network, confirmed Tuesday that he is leaving CNN today. He was said to have been unhappy at not becoming president of the company last year.

“After 11 years with the company, I looked at what was in store over the next couple of years, and I had some reservations about a long tenure in middle management,” Amos said in an interview. “I have a desire to run my own business.”

The 37-year-old executive had been considered a strong contender for the CNN presidency, but the job went instead last July to former Times Mirror Co. Vice Chairman Tom Johnson.

Amos declined to discuss where he might work next.

The former head of CNN’s Headline News service, Amos was responsible for the on-air look of CNN’s news shows and for the development of new programming.

In a memo to the CNN staff Tuesday, Johnson praised Amos’ contribution to CNN and outlined a realignment among CNN executives. The changes, Johnson said, reflected both a reassignment of Amos’ duties and an attempt to “broaden the responsibilities” of other CNN executives.

Ed Turner, executive vice president in charge of news gathering, will oversee special reports and CNN’s discussion shows, such as “Crossfire” and “Newsmakers.” Bob Furnad will be promoted to senior vice president and will add responsibility for production, anchors and graphics. Jon Petrovich, the executive in charge of Headline News, will oversee new business projects such as CNN’s experimental Airport Channel, a plan to install CNN monitors at airports.

A task force is being formed among the CNN executives to develop new shows for the all-news channel, whose ratings, after soaring to record levels during the Persian Gulf War, have returned recently to their prewar levels.