CBS News’ CEO Wendy McMahon has announced she’s quitting the network – with a tense statement hinting at her unhappiness at the newsroom’s current state.
McMahon, 50, made her departure known in a Monday memo to staffers – one that made clear she was taking a stand against Donald Trump and a lawsuit alleging CBS News exhibits bias.
The maneuver was first reported by The New York Times, three months after insiders first said McMahon was set to lose her job.
Both she and now-former 60 Minutes boss Owens opposed Paramount heiress Shari Redstone’s plans to settle a $20billion dollar suit being brought by the president that alleges an October 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris was deceptively edited.
A settlement appears to be the sticking point for the Skydance deal to go through – leaving Owens and and McMahon in higher-ups’ crosshairs.
‘It’s become clear that the company and I do not agree on the path forward,’ McMahon wrote Monday as a result.
‘It’s time for me to move on and for this organization to move forward with new leadership.’
‘Today, I am stepping down from my position as president and CEO of CBS News and Stations,’ McMahon told her team, calling the less than two-year stint plagued by poor ratings ‘one of the most meaningful chapters in [her] career.’
‘Leading this extraordinary organization has been the honor of a lifetime because I got to work alongside all of you,’ the now former CEO and president wrote.
‘At the same time, the past few months have been challenging.’
The rest of the statement echoed one offered by Owens after his ouster last month.
‘Over the past months, it has become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it,’ he wrote at the time, in a memo quickly leaked to the press.
‘It’s clear the company is done with me,’ he tearfully added at a staff meeting earlier in the day.
Both he and McMahon suggested corporate overreach was what spurred their decisions – both of which were made within weeks of each other as the deadline for the Skydance deal approaches.
McMahon – who had tapped Owens to implement her ill-fated vision of a two-host version of CBS Evenings – wrote of her next move: ‘It’s time for me to move on and for this organization to move forward with new leadership.’
Adding how she has spent the past several months ensuring ‘the right leaders are in place’, McMahon wrote of such staffers: ‘I have no doubt they will continue to set the standard.
She singled out CBS News longtimers like Matt Naber and Robert Breen specifically, and CBS News President Tom Cibrowski and CBS Stations President Jennifer Mitchell.
The latter two – whom had essentially been McMahon’s deputies in their respective spheres of influence – will now begin reporting directly to George Cheeks, the Co-Chief Executive Officer of Paramount Global, and President and CEO of CBS.
‘To George: Thank you for this opportunity,’ McMahon was sure to add.
‘To our viewers: Thank you for your trust. You hold us accountable, and you remind us why this work matters.’
The apparently ousted 60 Minutes ally concluded with what was presented as a pointed message to her team.
‘Thank you for your passion, your professionalism and your partnership,’ the former ABC exec who joined CBS News in 2021 added.
‘It has been a privilege to walk this path with you.’
Owens, a few weeks ago, assured the same team McMahon was ‘fight[ing] this fight’ for them ‘week by week’, referring to his and her bid to stand up against what they presented as corporate oversight at the cost of journalistic integrity.
