Veteran anchor John Dickerson is leaving CBS amid big changes at the network.
“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,” he said in a statement Monday.
Dickerson and his colleague Maurice Dubois have anchored the CBS Evening News since January when Norah O’Donnell stepped away from the nightly news desk. She left the network completely in July.
Dickerson’s departure coincides with polarizing “Free Press” founder Bari Weiss taking over as the network’s news division’s editor-in-chief. Weiss has reportedly considered recruiting talent from Fox News to work under her at CBS News.
“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 wrote in a farewell statement posted to social media.
Dickerson colleagues, including O’Donnell, reacted to departure with gratitude.
“A great friend and co-anchor in the mornings, primetime and on many election nights. Adore you and grateful for you,” she posted on Instagram.
The 57-year-old newsman didn’t say what he planned to do when 2025 comes to an end.
An $8 billion July merger between Skydance and Paramount made billionaire David Ellison CEO of the entertainment giant that’s properties include CBS. Ellison enjoys a friendly relationship with President Trump. The President has taken issue with the way he’s been covered by the network that’s lineup includes the revered newsmagazine “60 Minutes.”
CBS agreed to pay $16 million to Trump’s presidential library when he sued the network in July alleging an interview with Kamala Harris, his opponent in the 2020 presidential election, had been favorably edited.
Dickerson took issue with that settlement in a “CBS Evening News Plus” monologue asking: “Can you hold power to account after paying it millions?”
With News Wire Services
