What Happened To Norah O'Donnell? All The Details About Her CBS Shake-Up Revealed

On July 30, 2024, Norah O'Donnell announced her decision to leave her role as managing editor and lead anchor of "CBS Evening News," noting that she would continue on as a senior correspondent with the network. O'Donnell, who has had a complicated career with CBS, became the face of the evening news segment in 2019. She originally landed the role of Chief White House Correspondent for CBS in 2011 and went on to co-anchor "CBS This Morning" shortly after.

While O'Donnell has long faced rumors of impending replacement, she officially announced her decision to change roles in a company-wide memo. "I have spent 12 years in the anchor chair here at CBS News, connected to a daily broadcast and the rigors of a relentless news cycle," she wrote. "It's time to do something different." The CBS shake-up has garnered media attention for multiple reasons. For one, the change followed the announcement that Paramount Global, the conglomerate that owns CBS, agreed to a merger with long-time partner Skydance Media.

This change also prompted CBS News president Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews to announce her intention to step down from her role. According to The New York Times, Ciprian-Matthews alluded to the massive layoffs resulting from the merger as an inciting factor in her decision. It's a calamitous time for CBS News, and reports of O'Donnell's impending replacements have added more criticism to the pile.

Following the news of Norah O'Donnell's imminent departure from her role as the CBS evening news anchor, it was announced that John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois would be serving as her replacements. Both men are established reporters at the network, with Dickerson previously co-anchoring "CBS This Morning" and hosting "The Daily Report with John Dickerson." DuBois has an established history with WCBS-TV, the New York and East Coast branch of CBS, co-anchoring the shows "CBS 2 News at 5" and "CBS 2 News at 11."

Even so, the network's decision to replace a leading female anchor with two men did not go unnoticed, with Katie Couric specifically penning an op-ed for The New York Times to criticize the decision. "Soon, on the big three networks, there will be four male anchors," the award-winning journalist wrote, referring to CBS, NBC, and ABC. "More important, the three people behind the scenes, making most of the editorial decisions, will be three white men: Bill Owens, Guy Campanile and Jerry Cipriano."

Couric, who's opened up about her time at CBS, expressed respect for the reporters and writers in question. Still, she noted how important it is that the news be reflective of the populations it's serving, referencing the women-centered news stories that were covered under O'Donnell. "Whether it's in politics, sports, or other once-male-dominated fields, seeing diversity in leadership inspires our imagination about who can and should fill these roles," Couric wrote.

Norah O'Donnell might be stepping down from a high-profile position at CBS, but the journalist has voiced an ongoing commitment to the station and the work she is doing. The Texas native has confirmed that she will continue to contribute to the network's news broadcasts, naming "Evening News" and "60 Minutes" specifically, but that she will be shifting her overall focus. "I'm pleased to share that I have made a long-term commitment to CBS News to continue to do the same storytelling and big interviews that have been our hallmark," O'Donnell wrote, noting that her upcoming work has the potential to appear across the network's many platforms.

In a follow-up memo, CBS News CEO Wendy McMahon expanded on what this change will mean for O'Donnell and the network, emphasizing the high-profile interviews that have defined the "CBS Evening News" anchor's career. "Norah's superpower is her ability to secure and then masterfully deliver unparalleled interviews and stories that set the news cycle and capture the cultural zeitgeist," McMahon wrote. "This is a transformative time in our industry, where we have the challenge and the opportunity to connect with viewers in entirely new ways, and she is uniquely positioned to do so for CBS."