Barbara Starr, the longtime Pentagon correspondent for CNN, is departing the network.
She wrote in a memo to staffers, “To my many colleagues and friends, With the expiration of my contract in the coming days I have made the decision to move on. Let me say this…you never say goodbye to your friends, so I won’t.” CNN’s Oliver Darcy first reported on her exit, and the network confirmed it.
Starr joined CNN in 2001, having joined from ABC News where she worked as a producer.
Her exit follows the layoff of hundreds of employees last week, including veteran correspondent Martin Savage and political analyst Chris Cillizza. Another on-air figure, Ana Cabrera, also is looking to leave the network when her contract expires, according to sources.
In 2021, it was revealed that the Justice Department under President Donald Trump obtained a gag order that kept top CNN executives from disclosing the government’s pursuit of reporter Barbara Starr email and other records as part of an apparent leak investigation. She and reporters from The Washington Post and The New York Times were informed that the government had seized their records without their knowledge.
During her CNN career she has made multiple trips to hotspots including Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, among other places. Before ABC News, she was bureau chief for Jane’s Defense Weekly, and she also worked as a correspondent for Business Week.
Also announcing his exit was Jon Adler, senior vice president of program development for CNN Originals. His move follows CNN’s announcement in October that it was scaling back original series and films amid budget cuts. Although the network is looking to produce longform content in house, the announcement meant that the unit no longer would partner with third-party suppliers. The original series unit also has been responsible for Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown and United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell.
