CNN's Kagan Trades Anchor Chair For a Soapbox on the World Wide Web

CNN midmorning anchor Daryn Kagan is leaving the network after 12 years to start up her own online business.

Kagan, who anchors "CNN Live Today" weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon, will sign off Sept. 1. Her new Web site, DarynKagan.com, launches Nov. 13.

Her contract with the network was set to expire sometime later this year. In a memo sent out yesterday to CNN staffers, Kagan said the Web site will "be an inspirational, online community dedicated to the radical idea that the world is a good place."

She added: "Sounds different, I know. It is."

Her note credited the CNN executives who hired her 12 years ago, but said nothing about her current bosses. Kagan did not return a message left yesterday on her cellphone.

Kagan joined the network in 1994 as a sports reporter and moved to morning news in 1997. For nearly three years, she and Leon Harris co-anchored "Live Today." Harris left CNN in 2003 to become the lead anchor at WJLA (Channel 7) in Washington.

In her memo, Kagan wrote, "I am so grateful for the experience and people I've worked with for 12 years. 12 years!? Who has a job anywhere for 12 years anymore, let alone in TV news!"

No word on her replacement, according to a CNN spokeswoman.

"We're sad to see her leave," CNN/U.S. President Jon Klein said in an e-mail to staffers. "Not only is Daryn one of the nicest people I have ever met, but one of the classiest."

This year, Kagan's "CNN Live Today" has been averaging 442,000 viewers, an uptick from last year. In the same time slot, Fox News Channel's "Fox News Live" draws more than twice CNN's audience.

Kagan's personal life was in the news earlier this year when she broke off a relationship with conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh.