New CNN head says network needs to recapture ‘swagger and innovation’

Mark Thompson outlines strategy to staff in memo that bemoaned network’s lack of innovation and its outdated website

CNN’s new chief executive says the company needs to recapture the “swagger and innovation” of its early days – and that, he says, increasingly means embracing a future outside of television.

Mark Thompson, appointed CNN’s chief executive last fall after stints at the New York Times and the BBC, outlined a strategy to his staff on Wednesday that included a corporate restructuring but few external specifics on how that transformation will take place.