CBS News anchor John Dickerson is set to leave the network at the end of the year, marking the first high-profile talent departure since Bari Weiss took over as editor-in-chief of CBS News. The move is part of a broader restructuring effort led by Paramount’s new owner, David Ellison, as Weiss aims to revamp CBS News. Dickerson, who has been a prominent figure at CBS for 36 years, will step down after co-anchoring ‘CBS Evening News’ with Maurice DuBois, a position he has held since January.
Dickerson’s planned departure will be another change for ‘CBS Evening News,’ which saw Dickerson and DuBois replace Norah O’Donnell in January. The future of the program is unclear, but CBS News President Tom Cobrowski said Dickerson will be honored on the way out. ‘After 16 years at CBS News and contributing to every program here, John Dickerson has decided to step away at the end of the year. John epitomizes the very best of journalism. He will co-anchor the CBS Evening News until the holidays, when he will say farewell. Until then, we’ll have plenty of time to thank him for his work here and honor his contributions to our success,’ Cobrowski said in a statement.
Dickerson has been a contributor to ’60 Minutes,’ anchored ‘Face the Nation,’ co-anchored ‘CBS This Morning,’ moderated CBS News’ two presidential primary debates and has interviewed President Donald Trump nearly 20 times. His tenure atCBS News has been marked by a commitment to investigative journalism and a focus on political coverage, particularly during presidential elections. However, Dickerson has been critical of recent decisions by Paramount, including a multimillion-dollar settlement with Donald Trump, which he argued could hinder the press’ ability to ‘hold power to account.’
Weiss’ hire was met with both internal and external criticism — with some citing her opinion background and lack of television experience — but a CBS News insider recently said employees worrying about Weiss inside the newsroom come from two distinct camps. ‘Really young people who, frankly, might be [more] progressive than they should be, and the really old people who feel protective of a brand that no longer exists anyway,’ the insider told Fox News Digital of colleagues who are ‘aghast’ Weiss was hand-picked by Ellison to lead the news division.
The insider said the older staffers who long for Walter Cronkite’s CBS News ‘don’t know how to grow with the times,’ and some younger colleagues object to Weiss being so passionately pro-Israel and anti-‘woke.’ ‘Everyone in between was like, ‘Yeah, let’s try something new,’’ the insider said. The insider also said a large majority of the newsroom is open-minded and well aware that Weiss ‘launched a hyper-successful media company’ and clearly has a ‘good pulse’ on the American zeitgeist.
‘We probably needed a course correction, and an unwillingness to acknowledge that would lead to perpetual third place,’ the CBS News insider said. This sentiment highlights the internal debates within CBS News regarding the direction of the network in the face of changing media landscapes and audience expectations.