On Monday, Wendy McMahon revealed that she was resigning from her roles as president and CEO of CBS News. She stated that over the last several months, it became evident that she did not share the same vision for future directions with the organization. According to sources afterward, this disagreement led to her decision. The Independent after executives from her company’s parent firm, Paramount Global, instructed her to step down, she found herself compelled to leave her position.
The New York Times first reported that McMahon was forced out of her role.
“A CBS insider reported that everyone is concerned,” The Independent Regarding McMahon’s departure, they also mentioned that many team members "lack confidence in the newly appointed leaders." An additional employee noted that the office was "in shock due to this" and highly worried about which way the channel will head in the future.
"People have faith in her approach to narrative telling and journalistic standards in the classic CBS News manner, rather than the sensationalism often seen at other unnamed channels," the staff member stated.
The relocation happened several weeks following 60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens resigned Over what he characterized as a loss of autonomy at the network and its main newsmagazine following settlement talks with President Donald Trump regarding a lawsuit that legal experts claim has absolutely no grounds McMahon's departure might suggest that Paramount is close to reaching an agreement with the president.
"This has been one of the most impactful periods in my professional journey," McMahon stated in a missive acquired by us. The Independent Having had the privilege of leading this exceptional organization throughout my career, I must say it has been the highlight of my life. The opportunity to collaborate with each one of you made it truly remarkable. Your unwavering dedication to honesty, equity, and excellence remains unparalleled.
She stated, "Promoting and backing the reporting from the most incredible stations and bureaus globally, honoring the achievements of our programs and our brands, uplifting our narratives and our team members... It has been an honor and delight."
Nevertheless, McMahon acknowledged that she had clashed with top executives regarding the news network's direction, likely referring to CBS's parent company, Paramount Global, which was considering settling Trump's lawsuit. 60 Minutes An interview with Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris conducted shortly before the 2024 election led to accusations from the president alleging deceptive editing and electoral interference. This resulted in a $20 billion lawsuit filed against CBS News, which they maintain is unfounded. “without merit.” Nevertheless, media giant ViacomCBS’s leading stakeholder is Shari Redstone. has urged for resolving the case to obtain approval from the Trump administration for the firm’s large-scale merger with Skydance.
The Independent reached out to representatives of CBS News and Paramount for their comments.
“At the same time, the past few months have been challenging. It’s become clear that the company and I do not agree on the path forward. It’s time for me to move on and for this organization to move forward with new leadership,” McMahon added. “I have spent the last few months shoring up our businesses and making sure the right leaders are in place; and I have no doubt they will continue to set the standard.”
In another correspondence distributed to CBS News employees, which was likewise acquired by The Independent George Cheeks, co-CEO of Paramount and CEO of CBS, praised McMahon but also pointed out who will be stepping up to lead the news division in her absence.
Moving ahead, CBS News President Tom Cibrowski and CBS Stations President Jennifer Mitchell will both report directly to me," he stated. "Regarding CMV, Scott Trupchak, responsible for advertising sales, along with John Budkins, overseeing programming and production, will now report to Bryon Rubin, the COO and CFO of CBS. Wendy will stay with us for several weeks to assist with the transition.
Personally, I'd like to express my gratitude to Wendy for her collaboration these last four years," Cheeks stated. "Thanks to her guidance, our TV station’s competitiveness and overall culture have seen significant enhancement, along with a substantial expansion of our local news coverage. We've also bolstered our streaming news services—both national and local—with multiple key CBS News programs now featuring digital components.
He stated: "Given the dynamic nature of today’s world, Wendy and her groups have strived to clearly define an outlook and establish a groundwork that readies our news activities for what lies ahead. These efforts encompass developments in areas like data-driven reporting, community-focused journalism, technological improvements, along with consolidating editorial choices to enable teams to operate more swiftly."
The CBS insider noted that there were worries regarding latest addition of executive personnel from ABC News to fill out the highest positions within the news network’s management This has also caused concern for some regarding CBS News' future identity.
The concern is that the newly appointed leaders aim to transform CBS into an inferior replica of ABC. This suspicion arises particularly because many of these individuals previously held positions at ABC News before being let go," stated a network source. They also mentioned that at least one executive is "evidently attempting to amass more authority" during this period of transition.
“The changeover appears less positive than expected,” remarked the CBS employee.
In 2023, McMahon assumed leadership of CBS News after serving as president of Disney’s ABC stations. Recently, he has found himself navigating through turbulent times at the network due to Redstone’s efforts to facilitate a significant merger with Skydance. This situation has also led to increased interference from major shareholders in the network’s editorial content.
Even before the President took legal action against CBS over the 60 Minutes During the interview, Redstone voiced his irritation towards McMahon and the leaders of the news division regarding how they managed the aftermath of the situation. CBS Mornings Anchor Tony Dokoupil’s confrontational interview with Ta-Nehisi Coates. During this, McMahon noted that Dokoupil had breached the network’s guidelines and ethical standards With his confrontational approach toward Coates during the interview, where the morning show host implied that the renowned author held extreme positions regarding Gaza due to their viewpoints, Redstone—a consistent supporter of pro-Israeli organizations and charitable initiatives—publicly backed Dokoupil.
Moreover, McMahon has encountered inquiries regarding the recent overhaul of CBS Evening News , which has seen declining viewership after a format shift introduced co-anchors Maurice DuBois and John Dickerson.
At the same time, during Paramount’s negotiations with Trump’s lawyers, Owens and McMahon stated firmly that they wouldn’t apologize for how the Harris interview was edited or for their coverage of Trump and his administration. Throughout this period, Redstone aimed to exert more control over the renowned news show. He appointed CBS veteran producer Susan Zirinsky as the new executive editor responsible for setting editorial standards just one day following the broadcast of a segment discussing people affected by the conflict in Gaza, which he believed portrayed content that could be considered antisemitic.
Months later, the president once again blew up at 60 Minutes In reference to two episodes covering Trump's chaotic meeting at the Oval Office involving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his efforts to acquire Greenland, he called upon FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, who was chosen for this role, to "enforce the highest possible penalties" against Paramount and CBS due to what were deemed as "unlawful actions."
Following the president's outburst, Redstone asked He kept her updated on every politically sensitive subject discussed in the Sunday night show for the remainder of the season, which concluded this week. Even so, reportedly went so far Asking Cheeks whether "it might be feasible to postpone reporting sensitive information regarding Trump or his policies until after she finalized the Skydance agreement." 60 Minutes Since no programming alterations were implemented due to Redstone’s requests at that point, Owens believed stepping down was his only option, feeling it was necessary to address what he saw as undue corporate meddling.
For her part, McMahon ensured she conveyed her backing for Owens internally amid escalating tensions behind the scenes. When he resigned, she stated publicly that "supporting" him was "an obvious choice for me."
"It’s evident that I've turned into the issue — I'm now seen as a problem for the corporation," said Owens. told staff On the day he declared his resignation, he also mentioned having a "minder" on the show as an additional factor contributing to his decision to step down. Previously, he noted, "the corporation wasn't aware of what was upcoming" on the program. By the conclusion of the initial segment, 60 Minutes following Owen's announcement of his departure, correspondent Scott Pelley reported issued an on-air rebuke about the corporate leaders while lauding the executive producer.
Paramount started overseeing our content in different manners. Although none of our narratives have been halted, Bill believed he forfeited the autonomy essential for genuine journalism," Pelley stated. "Nobody around here approves of this situation, yet by stepping down, Bill demonstrated something significant—he was the appropriate individual to helm. 60 Minutes all along.”
Following recent mediation meetings between Paramount and the president's legal team, which concluded with little agreement on the settlement terms, Trump expressed dissatisfaction over the developments. 60 Minutes a segment earlier this month discussing the president’s executive orders aimed at law firms, highlighted by a prominent Democratic attorney condemning Trump’s initiatives.
According to someone familiar with the internal talks, Mr. Trump’s legal team saw those statements and the segment as CBS trying to secure an advantage during the negotiation process for settlements. In response, they warned Paramount that Mr. Trump could initiate another lawsuit, alleging that both Paramount and CBS had tarnished his reputation in the '60 Minutes' broadcast. New York Times reported.
By the way, even though recent episodes did not have any Trump-focused segments removed or altered, the season finale did. 60 Minutes Was meant to broadcast a section presented by Anderson Cooper about "the recent widespread layoffs at the Internal Revenue Service — which were part of President Trump's initiatives to decrease the size of the federal workforce — and their potential effects on the IRS's capability to gather taxes and combat tax fraud."
Right before Sunday evening's broadcast, the channel declared that they would not be airing the segment because of recent events.
"There have been recent updates to our report set to broadcast on Sunday evening, May 18th, concerning the approximately 7,000 provisional workers terminated from their positions at the Internal Revenue Service back in February," the program noted in an editorial addendum distributed on Sunday morning. 60 Minutes learned that late last Friday, the IRS leaders told their top personnel they planned to bring temporary workers back into the office by next week’s end. We'll keep updating with fresh information and share further developments soon."
Before the show’s producers opted to trim the segment for editing purposes, it had caused significant distress among the higher-ups in the corporation. Cheeks, according to The New York Times , "viewed as a concept to televise an unconnected primetime event on Sunday, which would replace the channel’s usual nightly programming," such as the series ender of 60 Minutes .
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