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A veteran CBS News producer who is leaving the network after 46 years has suggested that political bias is at play at the network in a farewell memo sent to colleagues on Friday afternoon.
“We’ve been reading a lot of goodbyes lately and here I am headed out the door. It’s too soon, even after 46 years,” Mary Walsh wrote in the memo, which was obtained by the Guardian. “But maybe it’s for the best. We’ve been told to aim our reporting at a particular part of the political spectrum. Honestly, I don’t know how to do that.”
The memo comes a day after CBS News owner Paramount Skydance emerged as the likely victor in a takeover fight for Warner Bros Discovery, owner of CNN. CBS is now headed by Bari Weiss, a conservative commentator turned media entrepreneur, whose appointment was seen as a fillip to the Trump administration.
Some CNN staffers are now worried that political considerations could factor in when the network comes under the oversight of the Ellisons – though it’s unclear whether Weiss would play any role at the cable network.
A CBS News staffer – who was not authorized to comment – said that the significance of Walsh’s comments was “pretty huge”, considering her stature at the network.
In her memo, Walsh did not specifically mention Weiss or specify which “part of the political spectrum” staffers have been told to “aim” for – though network management have faced accusations of trying to curry favor with the Trump administration.
Walsh is one of nearly a dozen employees on the network’s evening news program that elected to take a buyout.
Approximately two weeks ago, another departing producer, Alicia Hastey, took a similar shot at the network’s direction under Weiss and Paramount Skydance chief executive David Ellison.
“Stories may instead be evaluated not just on their journalistic merit but on whether they conform to a shifting set of ideological expectations – a dynamic that pressures producers and reporters to self-censor or avoid challenging narratives that might trigger backlash or unfavorable headlines,” Hastey wrote in her memo, which was first reported by the New York Times.
During a town-hall event with Weiss held late last month, an employee on the Evening News show criticized network management. “Certain decisions and editorial choices have scared us,” the staffer wrote in a question asked to Weiss. “At Evening News, people are afraid for their jobs and afraid to even speak for fear of retaliation. There has been a chilling effect within our newsroom. It feels right now like if we offer feedback, alternatives, or constructive criticism, that we are asking for targets on our backs – or the answer is simply no.”
On a staff-wide editorial call on Friday morning, Walsh received a glowing tribute from CBS News president Tom Cibrowski, as did another veteran departing producer, Kate Rydell, according to a staffer who participated. The two producers also received an emotional send-off at the network’s Washington bureau on Thursday.
In her memo, Walsh recounted her lengthy career at CBS News and some of the network legends she had worked with, including Walter Cronkite, Joan Shorenstein, Dan Rather and Bob Schieffer.
“These days there’s a lot said about legacy, especially legacy media,” Walsh wrote. “The put-down is that you’re old and out of touch. To me, legacy is the way you will be remembered for generations to come. It is not about technology. We always produced great stories – even when ‘cut and paste’ script editing was done with scissors and scotch tape (been there done that). Legacy is about standing on the shoulders of the great journalists of CBS News. Legacy is dynamic. You are creating it now.”
She shared a message she had received recently from Schieffer, who retired as anchor of the CBS News Sunday show Face the Nation in 2015. “We were lucky because we were part of something grand, something that made a difference and no one can take that away from us,” he said.
Offering some encouragement for her remaining colleagues, Walsh wrote: “History is being made every day. Cover it. I’ll be watching. And please stay in touch.”
