By JIM RUTENBERG
The New York Times
The announcement last week that Major Garrett, the CNN White House correspondent, would be leaving the network came as a surprise to his colleagues in Washington. It also was a shock to Mr. Garrett - and the manner of his dismissal has roiled the bureau, CNN staff members said.
During his two and a half years at the network, executives never told Mr. Garrett they had a problem with him, people close to the situation said.
Last Monday, however, they bluntly told him that he had "no future" at CNN and that his services were no longer needed. CNN executives did not dispute this account.
The apparent harshness in the way the dismissal was handled sent a chill through the Washington offices of CNN, a subsidiary of AOL Time Warner.
It has also added to a sense of unease at the bureau that is growing as CNN executives continue to make changes. In the last year, the bureau has lost, either to buyout, dismissal or the competition: its longtime chief, Frank Sesno, and its two legal analysts, Roger Cossack and Greta Van Susteren. Its veteran anchor, Bernard Shaw, retired. Meanwhile, the role of Bill Press, the longtime Democrat on "Crossfire," came to an end last month when he was replaced with two Democratic consultants Paul Begala and James Carville. "There is huge uncertainty which hangs over everybody - camera people, producers, directors, reporters and anchors," said another person on the CNN Washington staff. A representative for Mr. Garrett, Robert Barnett, a Washington lawyer, had no comment.
CNN executives said the dissatisfaction among those on the Washington staff was regrettable, but perhaps to be expected. Mr. Garrett's departure, they said, was just one of the changes at CNN since the completion of the merger of its former parent company, Time Warner, and America Online last year.
The new CNN management - led by Jamie Kellner, the Turner Broadcasting System chief executive, and Walter Isaacson, the CNN chairman - was said to question whether Mr. Garrett had the breakout quality the network was seeking.
"The whole strategy is to keep our programming focused on our top correspondents," said an executive at CNN. The executive added that the network was being a lot more selective about whom it puts on the screen and was "really trying to draw out the top anchors like Jonathan Karl or John King or Kate Snow or Kelly Wallace" - the Washington correspondents currently in favor. Mr. Garrett is being replaced with Suzanne Malveaux, a former NBC News correspondent.
Mr. Garrett is being replaced [at CNN] with Suzanne Malveaux, a former NBC News correspondent.