A producer for “CBS Evening News” worried about the direction the network is taking in a farewell letter to her colleagues, saying that the “excellence” employees “seek to sustain is hindered by fear and uncertainty.”
The letter from producer Alicia Hastey was shared on social media by New York Times reporter Ben Mullin. While Hastey never mentioned Bari Weiss or newly appointed anchor Tony Dokoupil by name, she fretted about the “sweeping new vision” of the Tiffany Network.
“There has been a sweeping new vision prioritizing a break from traditional broadcast norms to embrace what has been described as ‘heterodox’ journalism,” she said. “Stories may instead be evaluated not just on their journalistic merit but on whether they conform to a shifting set of ideological expectations.”
Halsey said that the new era of CBS “pressures producers and reporters to self-censor or avoid challenging narratives that might trigger backlash or unfavorable headlines.” She closed her letter with a nod to legendary CBS anchor Walter Cronkite, quoting his response to the idea that his news coverage leaned too liberal.
“If that is what makes us liberals, so be it, just as long as in reporting the news we adhere to the first ideals of good journalism – that news reports must be fair, accurate and unbiased,” Cronkite said.
“Cronkite’s idea is one of the best I’ve encountered,” Hastey added. “He understood that labels are inevitable, but standards are what matter. What defines journalism is not what critics call it, but whether it remains faithful to those principles.”
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Weiss’ tenure has been marked by criticism from CBS employees and the network’s former stars. David Letterman raged that the network’s news division had been “eviscerated by idiots” shortly after Weiss promoted Dokoupil to lead CBS’ flagship news program.
“CBS News is a wreck, it’s just gone!” he said. “Ed Murrow would be broadcasting the blitz of London from the rooftop of buildings in London for CBS Radio. And it was that mentality that drove the integrity of CBS News that has been trampled on, pissed on, and eviscerated by these idiots that have taken it over!”
