Tony Dokoupil suddenly has fewer people to help him produce the daily “CBS Evening News.”
A significant portion of the CBS Evening News production team opted to take on a proposed acquisition in late January, according to three people familiar with the matter, the latest sign of ambivalence among CBS News journalists about the plans of the division’s leader, Bari Weiss. She recently articulated a new vision for the Paramount Skydance operation, with an increased focus on streaming video and stories that are “differentiated and not available anywhere else.”
According to sources, about 11 of the 40 production staff members have chosen to retire. Two of the people said the departures are among the youngest members of the CBS News staff, a dynamic that raises concerns about their ability to bring new perspectives to a familiar routine. But at least two of the employees who accepted the deal were veteran producers who played key roles in the weekday broadcast of “CBS Evening News.”
CBS News declined to request comment from executives.
The leak puts a new spotlight on CBS News under the Weiss administration, but Weiss’ experience is primarily tied to opinion writing and not the details of reporting. Weiss’ lack of knowledge has led to several mistakes since she took over in October, after Paramount acquired her conservative opinion site The Free Press for $150 million. There was also a connection with “60 Minutes.” Retirement of senior executives. And Dokoupil’s new tenure at CBS Evening News got off to a rocky start after he made comments online about his intentions for the new job.
One of the senior producers, Javier Guzman, left the Evening News in January, and people involved said he had problems with the show’s new direction. Several of the producers who are leaving were connected to the increased production of an investigative segment that previously aired under the name “Looking at America.” But things changed as part of Dokoupil’s tenure.
I can still hear the stressed staff singing. On Wednesday, a letter from one producer, Alicia Hasty, described a scenario in which a story could be judged by Weiss’ views on a particular topic rather than the facts gathered. “Stories may be evaluated not only on their journalistic merits but also on their conformity to a changing set of ideological expectations. This dynamic puts pressure on producers and reporters to self-censor or avoid challenging stories that may provoke backlash or unfavorable headlines,” she wrote in a farewell letter to CBS News staff. Hastie is among the staff members leaving the program.
Hastie could not be reached for comment on the memo she wrote.
At a town hall in January, Weiss reiterated the argument he has used since joining CBS News (mainstream media is no longer trusted) and emphasized that CBS News should be a place where viewers can hear all sides of an argument, even if it makes them uncomfortable. Independent Americans “want to have all the facts,” she said at the time, “and they want to know what’s really going on, even if it hurts their sensibilities.”
There are good reasons to revamp “CBS Evening News.” The show has long held the No. 3 spot behind ABC’s “World News Tonight” and NBC’s “NBC Nightly News.” Before Dokopil, CBS News was experimenting with two anchor formats that relied on Maurice Dubois and John Dickerson and an emphasis on corporate and feature reporting. Audiences didn’t buy into the concept, and ratings declined.
For the four-day period ending Dec. 5, “CBS Evening News” averaged about 4.57 million viewers, compared to 8.98 million for ABC’s “World News Tonight” and about 7.23 million for “NBC Nightly News,” according to Nielsen data. None of the three networks submitted their Friday newscasts for consideration due to the start of the Winter Olympics. And while both NBC and ABC programs averaged more than 1.1 million viewers between the ages of 25 and 54, an audience coveted by news advertisers, CBS’s program drew just 579,000 viewers, down 7% from the previous week and 14% from a year earlier.
Some of the departing staff were said to have become “a little stubborn,” largely because they were involved in producing features that are being scaled back, according to one of the people familiar with the matter. The source said older producers who are retiring are doing so because their severance offers are generous.
