CBS News Shake-Up: Producer Exits Network After 46 Years
What To Know
- Veteran CBS News producer Mary Walsh is leaving the network after 46 years, citing concerns about the politicization of news coverage.
- Walsh and another recent departing producer, Alicia Hastey, both expressed worries that CBS News is shifting its editorial approach to target specific political perspectives and prioritize “heterodox” journalism.
- CBS News leadership has denied these claims, emphasizing their commitment to editorial independence and thanking Walsh for her long service.
Another CBS News staffer is taking her leave and saying the news organization has been politicized. This time, it’s producer Mary Walsh, who is ending a CBS News tenure of nearly a half-century.
“We’ve been reading a lot of goodbyes lately, and here I am, headed out the door. It’s too soon, even after 46 years,” Walsh wrote in a farewell memo to colleagues, according to The Guardian. “But maybe it’s for the best. We’ve been told to aim our reporting at a particular part of the political spectrum. Honestly, I don’t know how to do that.”
Walsh didn’t specify a part of the political spectrum, but observers have noted that the hiring of conservative commentator Bari Weiss as CBS News’ editor-in-chief appears to be an appeasement to the Trump administration, as The Guardian noted.
CBS Evening News executive producer Kim Harvey disputed Walsh’s assessment. “We wish Mary Walsh well and thank her for many years of service,” Harvey wrote in a follow-up memo, The Guardian reports. “Mary wrote in her farewell note, ‘We’ve been told to aim our reporting at a particular part of the political spectrum.’ That is simply not true. Here at the Evening News, we value our editorial independence, and CBS News leadership has never asked us to aim our reporting in any political direction.”
Walsh’s exit comes soon after that of CBS Evening News producer Alicia Hastey, who wrote in her farewell memo about “a sweeping new vision prioritizing a break from traditional broadcast norms to embrace what has been described as ‘heterodox’ journalism,” per New York Times media reporter Ben Mullin.
“Stories may instead be evaluated not just on their journalistic merit but on whether they conform to a shifting set of ideological expectations — a dynamic that pressures producers and reporters to self-censor or avoid challenging narratives that might trigger backlash or unfavorable headlines,” Hastey added.
According to her Vail Symposium bio, Walsh was a national security producer for CBS News with CBS Evening News, CBS Sunday Morning, and 60 Minutes among her credits. She began her CBS News career with a job as an assistant to the political director in Washington, D.C., and she is a recipient of five Emmy Awards and three Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Awards.
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L
Bye bye CBS! Im moving on
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C
As am I. CBS was always my first choice. Not anymore. I won’t be watching it anymore.
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J
I’m not sure CBS spokespeople have any credibility left.
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R
It looks as though the new leadership of CBS was put in place to destroy the company and he’s doing an excellent job of eliminating the network. Television, as we know it, no longer exists. Rest assured that new leadership will destroy CBS with their pockets full!
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A
New leadership is a SHE, Slavin. Know what you talk about.
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F
Sounds like another Brendan Carr chairman of the FCC move. Let’s silence everyone. Welcome, Nazi Germany
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A
None of this began there, or ended there
CBS was owned by Israel propaganda light, and now Israel Propaganda heavy.
The Epstein Class.
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G
Bye bye CBS, it's time to move on!
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D
And thank you Bari Weiss for pointing viewers out the door. Toodles, _itch.
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A
Something about coffins and nails.
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K
The individual experience of one staff member is part of the institutional memory of any organization. Lose the individual, and the organization continues, but with lesser accountability.
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T
Sadly CBS News has become the Washington Post of broadcast news. A once mighty news organization destroyed and decimated to please one person. Growing up we always had the CBS Evening News on, and I had a subscription to the Post for 30 years. Now I have stopped watching and gave up my subscription because it’s too painful to see and read.
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B
They will eventually lose advertisers and that will certainly sink the station hopefully.
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C
Network TV viewership has plummeted across all networks in the past 10 years. People are moving from one-sided news organizations hence to more balanced and interesting independent streaming news and podcaster platforms. To her credit, The Free Press, the streaming platform Bari Weiss founded before being acquired by Paramount, achieved explosive year over year growth and a free-to-paid conversion rate that was more than double the media industry average. The good news is viewers have much more choice from which to gather their news. Perhaps those departing will reappear on the independent circuit….
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M
The quotes by her and others in this article PROVE the bias has existed for years years years ! Not just CBS and these resignations seemingly not voluntary!! Trump is saving our country from take over ! And these companies are realizing either get with the salvation or fold the tent ! Trump make not get us to the promised land ! But there will be a lot of casualties along the way ! I’d be interested in her buy out !
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1
Bari Weiss may have been successful previously but that is no barometer of success at CBS. Just look at what Bezos did at WPO and what Trump has done to Kennedy Center. You can't ram your extremist ideology down everyone's throats. Which should be obvious no matter where you stand politically. What's now happening across America is a broad campaign to control thought by controlling information and by crushing dissent. How is that democratic? Anyone who truly loves America should stand up for freedom of expression and the laws if our Constitution -- both of which are now under attack.
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G
It's laughable how Mary Walsh never seemed to care when CBS was used against Trump, to help cover up Biden's obvious mental decline, and didn't care about being used as a propaganda arm of the Democrat party!
She should have said she's not happy that the new director won't allow them to be activists for democrats against Trump, and anything he tries to do, to keep the promise he made while campaigning, or be used to back democrats! It's beyond hypocritical to now claim a president they hate, is using CBS in any way! They used CBS to help Kamala Harris, during an election! What CBS needs is a mirror, to look at what they did to interfere with an election!
We the People want journalists to return to investigating stories and not be used in politics, by either side! Just give Americans facts! Don't tell them how to vote, and who to elect. Their integrity has been damaged beyond repair! We don't trust CBS, ABC, OR NBC, along with CNN, and MSNBC!
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W
Amen!
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E
So trying to hide a 60 min story that didn't look favorable to Chump wasn't a GIP leaning move. You guys have turned into a watered down Fox News. Don't try to bullshit.
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D
Fake News network.
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N
Politics should have no sway in what is presented. Shame on the network heads!
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T
Time to boycott
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G
It's completely amusing and highly hypocritical for those leaving CBS to claim there is now a political leaning from their news dept. That's all there has been since the ego laden Dan Rather started his drip ,drip, drip of leftist political perspective in the '80's to completely changing the response of the Dem. presidential appointee on 60Minutes to make them look smarter than they were capable of being. This story itself was not even honest.
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S
Just because news is not conservative leaning doesn’t mean it’s progressive. Republicans always make the most obvious straw man arguments about their feelings like they’re facts. I’m not a democrat and I’m not a republican and nobody cares about either of you guys because you’re both failures at making this country worth living in
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G
The more rewards the less I trust them to be impartial
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S
CBS is the worse television and I no longer will watch it. I hope the Buffalo Bills move to another network or they may lose a lot of people who watch their games.
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S
What a joke! CBS News has always been left. Barri Wise wants a balance. I quit watching network news when basically hearing one side. We need to have a news that is the news. Not commentary on one side. Can't watch the crazy right either. All I want is balanced coverage.
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M
Well, I stopped watching CBS News when Nora O'D was elevated to the national news anchor desk. So, there is nothing to see here, because CBS "news died in the dark."
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S
Who is she kidding? CBS has been extremely biased for years.
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K
Mary is a wonderful, accomplished producer. Wh at times put herself in danger to get the story right. CBS's loss.
Congratulations to the Corporate suckups.
You not only lost Mary your bleeding viewers like me.
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M
About time these democrat liberals are replaced. They have been destroying this country.
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T
CBS radical staff hate change and going more center and stay away from left leaning and fake news slants and hit pieces - ratings low and terrible product - liberals hate change 50 years lying
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1
MAGA supporters refuse to see the forest through the trees. They just dig their heels in and regurgitate everything their lord of lies spews out.
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