Norah O’Donnell is stepping down from the CBS Evening News anchor chair after the election and will take on what she told staffers is “a new position” at CBS News, as senior correspondent.
O’Donnell started in the anchor and managing editor role in July 2019, moving up from CBS This Morning.
“I’ll still be anchoring all of our major coverage this year, election night and hopefully a debate!” she said in a memo to staffers. “Beyond that, 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. I will continue to contribute to Evening News and all of our news broadcasts, including 60 Minutes.”
Wendy McMahon, president and CEO of CBS News and Television Stations and CBS Media Ventures, said in her own note to staffers that the decision is O’Donnell’s. “Just a few moments ago, Norah O’Donnell shared her decision to step away from the Evening News desk after the election, moving into a new role at CBS — a role that will enable her to, as she notes, do something different, and thankfully for us, do more of the storytelling and big interviews that are a hallmark of CBS News, as well as Norah’s illustrious career,” McMahon said.
McMahon said O’Donnell’s new role will give her “the time and the support to deliver even more of the exceptional stories she is known for across our shows and streams, across CBS Network and Paramount Plus. She will have the real estate and flexibility to leverage big bookings on numerous platforms, including primetime specials, 60 Minutes, CBS News Sunday Morning, and more.
No successor on CBS Evening News has been named.
O’Donnell succeeded Jeff Glor in the role in 2019.
“We just celebrated an amazing five years together,” she told staffers. “I love what I do, and I am so fortunate to work with the best journalists and people in the business. Together, our team has won Emmy, Murrow, and DuPont awards. We managed to anchor in-studio through COVID; we took the broadcast on the road from aircraft carriers to the Middle East and around the world. We were privileged to conduct a historic interview with Pope Francis. There’s so much work to be proud of! But I have spent 12 years in the anchor chair here at CBS News, tied to a daily broadcast and the rigors of a relentless news cycle. It’s time to do something different. This presidential election will be my seventh as a journalist, and for many of us in this business we tend to look at our careers in terms of these milestone events.”
