Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
Claudia Milne, CBS News’ head of standards since 2021, announced Thursday she is leaving the network, the first senior news executive to depart since Free Press founder Bari Weiss. Name of the editor-in-chief of the newsroom,
Milne’s departure also comes just weeks after the network Name Former Trump appointee and conservative think tank leader Kenneth Weinstein serves as an ombudsman dedicated to addressing “bias complaints” at CBS News, one of many moves By Paramount Skydance chief David Ellison, who has been criticized within the network And among media critics,
Milne announced to staff on an editorial call Thursday morning that he had resigned, according to sources. While thankful for his time at the network, Milne did not give any reason for his exit. Sources said Weiss was not part of the editorial meeting.
Diversity Was first person to report On Milne’s departure. A CBS News spokesperson confirmed this Independent Milne was leaving the network and made the announcement during a morning meeting.
Milne, whose father worked as an editor in the London bureau of CBS News for three decades, also sent a staff-wide email on Thursday revealing she was leaving. Throughout the letter, he urged his colleagues to “keep asking those tough questions,” while also saying it was a “privilege” to work for the same news organization that his father called home.
He wrote, “Some of you know that my father worked for CBS News for decades. He was an editor and, like all editors, he toiled in small dark rooms to correct mistakes and make our work better.”
Milne added, “He gave me curiosity about the world and belief in the importance of what you do. When he was home, I learned a lot at the kitchen table.” “She never knew I came back to work at CBS. I think she would have been proud (and maybe even a little surprised!).”
Calling it “a privilege to work with all of you and hopefully sometimes help make your work a little better”, he said he was filled with “awe and pride” at the amount of attention and care the newsroom put into its reporting.
Milne declared, “We live in complex times. For our company, for our industry and for our country. And it’s a time when what we do matters most.” “I believe our role as journalists is to hold the powerful accountable. We are here to question and challenge our political leaders on behalf of our audiences, Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative.”
Finally, Milne encouraged CBS News journalists to “keep asking tough questions, challenging those in power, and keeping audiences informed.” At the same time, he said he was confident that they would “continue to do it in the fair, balanced and impartial manner that this organization has always done and that is the foundation of good journalism.”
Before joining CBS News in 2019, Milne was head of live TV at Bloomberg and senior editor at ProPublica. He also spent a large part of his career at the BBC. Upon arriving at CBS, she became managing editor. cbs this morning before taking on additional responsibilities with the network the following year.
The Tiffany Network has been surrounded by turmoil over the past year, especially after Donald Trump sued CBS News last October over its editing. 60 minutes Interview with Kamala Harris.
The defamation suit, which Trump claimed was “election interference”, ultimately sparked controversy resignations Of many newsroom leaders Because former Paramount leadership negotiated the settlement with the President despite CBS News lawyers describing the complaint as “without merit.”
a few weeks before Paramount Closed upon its merger with Skydancewhich required Trump administration approval, the company announced Trump was paid $16 million to settle the lawsuitThat agreement, as well Other concessions made by Ellison to the Federal Communications Commission and Administration Prior to Skydance’s merger with Paramount, currently being Investigated by Democratic lawmakers For potential anti-bribery violations.
Ellison, who said when the merger closed that he did not want to “politicize” the newsroom, has faced scrutiny in recent weeks over his decision affecting CBS News, with some news staffers angry that he “lied” Them.
Additionally, the arrival of Weiss – who labels herself as a “radical centrist” and a “Zionist fundamentalist” – as top editor, as well as Paramount’s purchase of her anti-woke and “heterodox” digital outlet The Free Press for $150 million, have not yet been fully accepted by the newsroom.
Even before last week’s announcement that he had been brought on as editor-in-chief likely to take charge Newsroom motivated staff to start “Literally numb” Among the wholesale changes being implemented by Ellison were what many perceived as pushing CBS News to the right in an effort to appease Trump.
While his first week on the job is marked by the staff literally rolling my eyes On his Sorkinesque call to journalistic arms and Confusion over his Elon Musk-style memo In newsrooms, much of the concern among staffers centers on the prospect of catastrophic layoffs.
Following the closing of the $8 billion merger, Ellison made it clear He is demanding $2 billion in cost reductions from Paramount Skydance, which would include the loss of thousands of jobs at the company. So CBS News is expecting to cut its staff by 10 percent in the coming weeks.