Norah O'Donnell is stepping down as anchor of the "CBS Evening News" after the 2024 election. Why is that, and what comes next? Here's what we know so far about this sea change at the network.
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00:00Nora O'Donnell is stepping down as anchor of the CBS Evening News after the 2024 election.
00:07Why is that, and what comes next? Here's what we know so far about this sea change at the
00:11network.
00:12O'Donnell announced her decision to leave as anchor managing editor and lead anchor
00:16on July 30, noting that she would continue on as a senior correspondent with the network.
00:21She has a long history at CBS, originally landing the role of chief White House correspondent
00:26in 2011 and going on to co-host CBS This Morning the following year. She landed the Evening
00:31News anchor position in 2019.
00:34After seven years on the morning show, did you take this job just so you could sleep
00:38in?"
00:39That was part of the calculation, yes."
00:42O'Donnell officially announced her decision to change roles in a company-wide memo, which
00:46read in part,
00:47"...I have spent 12 years in the anchor chair here at CBS News, connected to a daily broadcast
00:52and the rigors of a relentless news cycle. It's time to do something different."
00:56The shakeup at the news desk comes at a time of considerable change at CBS itself. On July
01:017, Paramount Global, the conglomerate that owns CBS, announced a merger with longtime
01:06partner Skydance Media. This change also prompted CBS News president Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews
01:11to announce that she would step down from her role as well.
01:15According to The New York Times, Ciprian-Matthews alluded to the massive layoffs resulting from
01:19the merger as an inciting factor in her decision. CBS has announced that O'Donnell will be replaced
01:24at the evening news desk by two men, John Dickerson and Maurice Dubois. Both are established
01:29journalists at the network, with Dickerson previously hosting Face the Nation, co-anchoring
01:34CBS This Morning, and hosting The Daily Report with John Dickerson.
01:38Dubois has an established history with New York CBS affiliate WCBS-TV, co-anchoring CBS
01:442 News at 5 and CBS 2 News at 11. Even so, the network's decision to replace its female
01:50anchor with two men did not go unnoticed. Katie Couric, who anchored the CBS evening
01:55news from 2006 to 2011, penned an August 11 op-ed for The New York Times to criticize
02:00the decision. She wrote,
02:02"'Soon, on the big three networks, there will be four male anchors. More important, the
02:06three people behind the scenes, making most of the editorial decisions, will be three
02:10white men."
02:11Couric expressed respect for everyone involved, but noted how important it is that the news
02:16be reflective of the populations it's serving, referencing the women-centered news stories
02:20that were covered under O'Donnell. Couric wrote,
02:23"...whether it's in politics, sports, or other once-male-dominated fields, seeing diversity
02:27in leadership inspires our imagination about who can and should fill these roles."
02:32When Couric stepped down as anchor of the CBS evening news, she left the network for
02:36ABC.
02:37"...I'm looking at all sorts of opportunities, and I promise when I make a decision, I'll
02:41come back."
02:42O'Donnell is sticking with CBS, though. The Texas native has confirmed that she will continue
02:47to contribute to the network's news broadcasts, naming evening news and 60 Minutes specifically,
02:52but that she will be shifting her overall focus. She wrote in her memo,
02:55"...I'm pleased to share that I have made a long-term commitment to CBS News to continue
03:00to do the same storytelling and big interviews that have been our hallmark."
03:04O'Donnell added that her upcoming work has the potential to appear across the network's
03:07many platforms. In a follow-up memo, CBS News CEO Wendy McMahon expanded on what the change
03:13will mean for O'Donnell and the network, emphasizing the high-profile interviews that have defined
03:17the CBS evening news anchor's career. McMahon wrote,
03:21"...Nora's superpower is her ability to secure and then masterfully deliver unparalleled
03:25interviews and stories that set the news cycle and capture the cultural zeitgeist. This is
03:30a transformative time in our industry, where we have the challenge and the opportunity
03:34to connect with viewers in entirely new ways, and she is uniquely positioned to do so for
03:39CBS."