Former CBS News President Susan Zirinsky has returned to the position of executive editor temporarily while the department searches for a full-time replacement.
In a memo sent to employees Monday night, Paramount Global co-CEO George Cheeks wrote:
In today's fast-moving news environment, it is important for newsrooms to provide balanced, accurate, fair and timely reporting quickly and effectively, including on highly sensitive and complex issues such as the war in the Middle East.
CBS News takes this responsibility seriously. Although there is no way to cover such sensitive issues without raising some degree of criticism, we have a responsibility to address those concerns. This includes comments regarding perceived bias in some CBS news coverage. We cannot let this negatively impact our legacy, our future, our mission, or our connection with our viewers.
Wendy and her team are conducting a search for a newly created Executive Editor position who will work in the News Department with the specific mission of ensuring we have the expertise, resources and oversight to enable us to cover the most challenging issues with the highest degree of expertise. Balance and integrity. Standards will report on this new position.
We've asked Susan Zirinsky—whom you all know—to serve in this executive editor role on an interim basis while we conduct this research.
Zirinsky, who stepped down as president in spring 2021 after a two-year term, currently oversees See It Now Studios, the non-fiction content production arm across ViacomCBS brands and other platforms.
During her tenure as head of CBS News, Zirinsky comprehensively overhauled the news division CBS Evening News To Washington, D.C., with new anchor Norah O'Donnell and executive producer Jay Shaylor. Its changes also included a change in CBS This Morning broadcaster team, with Anthony Mason and Tony Dokoupil joining Gayle King, and Shauna Thomas appointed as the show's new EP.
