In an internal email sent on Wednesday, CBS News informed Evening News staff that buyouts were being offered as the network moves forward with a new direction.
The email stated: “We are offering an extraordinary chance to leave CBS News with an enhanced separation payment.”
The announcement came a day after a town hall meeting led by CBS News CEO Bari Weiss, where she outlined plans to reshape the struggling division. “At yesterday’s All-Hands, Bari charted a course for CBS News that’s very different from the one we’re on now,” the email read.
It continued: “The Evening News has a new host and a new direction, and there will be more change coming. We hope you are excited about this vision, but we understand that some of you may not be, and we want to provide support.”
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The buyout offer is for non-union employees on CBS Evening News. Unionized staff, mostly writers and technical staff, were not included. A source familiar with the matter said most staffers on the program received the email.
Employees have until February 2 to express interest. Financial terms will be shared by February 4, with a final decision deadline of February 9.
During the Tuesday town hall, Weiss told staff that anyone who disagreed with her leadership was free to leave. “It’s a free country, and I completely respect if you decide I’m not the right leader for you, or this isn’t the right place at the right time,” she said.
Weiss said she wants CBS News to invest in more “revelatory journalism” and place greater focus on “investigative scoops” that live on digital platforms and feed into broadcast programming. She has also added 19 new contributors to CBS News, including conservative historian Niall Ferguson, podcaster Andrew Huberman, and former Trump chief of staff H.R. McMaster.
The changes come as CBS Evening News enters its third week under new anchor Tony Dokoupil, who replaced co-anchors Maurice DuBois and John Dickerson.
The transition has not been smooth.
During his first broadcast, Dokoupil made an on-air teleprompter error when the script he was reading did not match the story on screen. He briefly called out the control room and executive producer Kim Harvey before the issue was corrected.
Dokoupil has also faced criticism for editorial comments during coverage of Venezuela and for becoming emotional on air while talking about his childhood. Megyn Kelly mocked one segment as unprofessional “sobbing” and accused CBS of pandering to viewers.
Ratings have shown slight improvement. Dokoupil averaged just under 4.2 million viewers in his first two weeks. In his third week, after returning to New York, viewership rose to around 4.9 million.
Featured image via YouTube screengrab
