“Local news: At the end of this year, I will leave CBS, sixteen years after I sat in as Face the Nation anchor for the first time,” Dickerson wrote on Instagram. “I am extremely grateful for all that CBS gave me—the work, the audience’s attention and the honor of being a part of the network’s history—and I am grateful for my dear colleagues who’ve made me a better journalist and a better human. I will miss you.”
Dickerson did not share the reasons for his departure, though conditions at the network have changed significantly in the past several months. The executive producer of 60 Minutes stepped down in April due to concerns over a lack of journalistic independence. More recently, CBS News’ standards and practices chief resigned, the first senior exec to do so after Weiss was hired. Dickerson himself was critical of parent company Paramount after it settled a lawsuit with President Donald Trump in July. He called the settlement an “obstacle” for the network during a CBS Evening News broadcast. “Can you hold power to account after paying it millions? Can an audience trust you when it thinks you’ve traded away that trust? The audience will decide that. Our job is to show up to honor what we witness on behalf of the people we witness it for,” he said at the time.
Of course, CBS News president Tom Cibrowski did not allude to any of this turmoil in his statement on Dickerson’s exit (via The Hollywood Reporter). “After 16 years at CBS News and contributing to every program here, John Dickerson has decided to step away at the end of the year. John epitomizes the very best of journalism. He will co-anchor the CBS Evening News until the holidays, when he will say farewell. Until then, we’ll have plenty of time to thank him for his work here and honor his contributions to our success.”
More shake-ups are expected at CBS News with layoffs imminent and Weiss looking to establish herself. Her request to staff for memos defining each person’s role at the company triggered some alarm that she was looking for excuses to cut personnel. The future of well-known (and well-paid) personalities like Gayle King are unclear, while speculation abounds that anchors like Norah O’Donnell and Tony Dokoupil could be up for promotion. Dickerson may be the first exit, but this won’t be the last big change we see over at CBS.
