Anchor Amara Walker announced on Thursday that she is leaving CNN to “seize on this moment of change in our industry.”
The Emmy winner and host of CNN This Morning Weekend told Deadline that she is taking “a hiatus from TV news” after more than a decade on air.
Her decision follows anchor Jim Acosta’s move to leave the network after he was removed from CNN’s 10 a.m. timeslot. In Acosta’s final broadcast, he warned listeners not to fall for President Donald Trump’s “lies.”
Former Meet the Press host and fellow Trump critic Chuck Todd also announced last week that he is leaving his network, NBC, after 2 decades.
Walker, who also hosts CNN Newsroom on CNN Max and CNN International, said she is “a journalist at heart” but has “other professional passions” that she has not been able to pursue given her “full-time commitment to a breaking news TV schedule.”
Walker remarked, “Winning an Emmy Award recently was the icing on the cake. I felt this is the right time to take this step.” She and her colleagues won the award for their coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.
A CNN spokesperson congratulated Walker on her “more than 10-year distinguished and award-winning career at CNN. ... She’s been a wonderful and deeply respected colleague at CNN. We know she will continue to find success in her new pursuits.”
