Norah ODonnell to Exit as CBS Evening News Anchor to Become Senior Correspondent

 Posted on September 23, 2024  |  6 minutes  |  1273 words  |  Reinaldo Massengill

Norah O’Donnell will cede the reins of the venerable “CBS Evening News” after the 2024 presidential election in favor of a new role as a senior correspondent who will seek out big interviews and opportunities for deeper reporting, the latest major change at CBS News after its business was merged with that of the local-TV operations of parent company Paramount Global.

O’Donnell, who recently celebrated her fifth year in the anchor chair, sees an opportunity to pursue signature interviews with top newsmakers — something that proved appealing to her after logging stints as both a morning-show co-anchor and an evening-news presence and after her recent sit-down with Pope Francis earlier this year.

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“Together, our team has won Emmy, Murrow, and DuPont awards. We managed to anchor in-studio through COVID; we took the broadcast on the road from aircraft carriers to the Middle East, and around the world. We were privileged to conduct a historic interview with Pope Francis,” O’Donnell said in a note sent to staffers Tuesday. “There’s so much work to be proud of! But I have spent 12 years in the anchor chair here at CBS News, tied to a daily broadcast and the rigors of a relentless news cycle. It’s time to do something different. This presidential election will be my seventh as a journalist, and for many of us in this business we tend to look at our careers in terms of these milestone events.”

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O’Donnell will continue to anchor all of CBS News’ major coverage leading up to the 2024 Election including the Democratic National Convention, Election Night, and more.  In her new role, O’Donnell will continue to contribute to “Evening News,” “60 Minutes” and other CBS News programs. The new arrangement is understood to be part of a longer-term commitment that the anchor and CBS News are making to one another.

Still, the maneuver is part of a parade of shifts at CBS News in recent months. The national newsgathering operation was in 2021 merged with CBS’ stations, and late last year was consolidated further under the management oversight of Wendy McMahon, who also oversees CBS’ syndicated business. In July, Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews, a veteran journalism executive who was named president of the Paramount Global news unit just last August, told staffers she would exit her role in favor of consulting duties; CBS has yet to name her replacement. It is widely understood that Paramount Global, a troubled media corporation that has agreed to be sold to Skydance Media, is looking at ways to cut costs across the company.

Under McMahon, CBS News has focused more intently on utilizing both national and local journalists for broader coverage, and recently unveiled a new “whip-around” streaming concept that relies on contributions from both the journalists at CBS News and the newsrooms at various CBS-owned local stations.

McMahon sees O’Donnell’s shift as one that will help her broader efforts. “Norah’s superpower is her ability to secure and then masterfully deliver unparalleled interviews and stories that set the news cycle and capture the cultural zeitgeist,’ McMahon said in a memo, adding: “How many people can effortlessly shift from field-anchoring on an aircraft carrier in the Red Sea to sitting down with Bono and Dolly Parton? Norah’s work here is legendary, and she has several major interviews in the works that will be equally memorable and momentous.”

In some ways, the move emulates one made at ABC News that set up Diane Sawyer as a sort of roving correspondent who could take on stories and interviews that made news on their own, but weren’t necessarily tied to the immediate news cycle.

O’Donnell’s work at “CBS Evening News” has been recognized by many arbiters of quality journalism. She has long investigated how the military investigates claims of sexual harassment and abuse; both her father and sister have served in the U.S. Armed Forces.

At the same time, the august show, which has ties to Walter Cronkite, has languished in third place behind ABC’s “World News Tonight” and NBC’s “NBC Nightly News” for decades. CBS News executives in the past have considered alternatives for the program. O’Donnell took the show to Washington, D.C., rather than its longtime roost in New York City, in a bid to cover the nation’s tumultuous political cycle more closely.

While ABC News and NBC News have backed years-long evening-news runs by anchors such as Sawyer and David Muir or Brian Williams and Lester Holt, CBS News keeps tinkering with the talent behind the desk. Since Dan Rather’s exit in 2005, CBS has tapped Bob Schieffer, Katie Couric, Harry Smith, Scott Pelley, Anthony Mason and Jeff Glor.

CBS News has not named a replacement for O’Donnell — and it is widely believed the network is not inclined to anoint a single heir. Among those who could be viewed as potential successors are Margaret Brennan, the “Face The Nation” moderator, or Major Garrett, the Washington correspondent both of whom sometimes fill in when O’Donnell is off or on assignment; James Brown, the “NFL Today” moderator and CBS News special correspondent, who also fills in on occasion; or weekend anchors Jericka Duncan or Adriana Diaz.

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