CBS News Lifer Is Promoted to Top Job at ‘60 Minutes’ After She Oversaw Series of Anti-Trump Stories: Will She Survive in the New, ‘Unbiased’ CBS?

CBS News is keeping Tanya Simon, who oversaw weekly anti-Trump stories aired by “60 Minutes” earlier this year, as the venerable news magzine’s executive producer after she ran the show for months in an interim capacity at a time of considerable internal turmoil.The announcement came just hours before the Federal Communications Commission announced that it had approved the acquisition of Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS, by Skydance Media. As a condition of being allowed to complete the transaction, Skydance committed in writing to compel the reliably liberal CBS News to practice “unbiased” journalism, and for CBS News’s coverage to better reflect the diversity of views across America. In a statement, the president of CBS News, Tom Cibrowski, said, “Tanya Simon understands what makes ’60 Minutes’ tick. She is an innovative leader, an exceptional producer, and someone who knows how to inspire people.”“Tanya knows that the success of today’s ’60 Minutes’ depends on delivering a weekly mix of the most informative, impactful and entertaining stories and investigative journalism from around the world. This is the true essence and foundation of ’60 Minutes,’” Mr. Cibrowski, who joined CBS in February from Disney’s San Francisco station, added.The stars of ’60 Minutes’ sent a letter to senior management demanding that their choice be coronated as executive producer of the program. Paramount GlobalMs. Simon, who first joined the network in 1996 and has worked with the “60 Minutes” team for 25 years, said it is a “privilege to lead ’60 Minutes’ and its formidable team of journalists,” and expressed her commitment to “extraordinary and thought-provoking journalism.”Ms. Simon is the daughter of a longtime CBS correspondent, Bob Simon, a broadcast news legend who died in a car wreck on Manhattan’s West Side Highway in 2015. Previously the second-ranking producer on “60 Minutes,” she has been overseeing the program since the forced resignation of Executive Producer Bill Owens in April.Earlier this year, all seven “60 Minutes” correspondents — Lesley Stahl, Scott Pelley, Bill Whitaker, Anderson Cooper, Sharyn Alfonsi, Jon Wertheim, and Cecilia Vega — sent a letter to the head of CBS, George Cheeks, demanding that the network give Ms. Simon the position, a far-left media reporter, Oliver Darcy, wrote in his “Status” newsletter. One staffer told Mr. Darcy, “The next E.P. has to be Tanya. There will be a revolt if it’s not her.”The “Breaker” media newsletter reported on Thursday night that while Mr. Cheeks made the call to promote Ms. Simon, the decision was approved by the CEO of Skydance, David Ellison.George Cheeks attends the Critics Choice Association’s Inaugural Celebration of LGBTQ+ Cinema & Television at Fairmont Century Plaza on June 7, 2024, at Los Angeles. Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Critics Choice AssociationWhen the decision was announced, the staff celebrated with cheers, according to the Hollywood Reporter.Ms. Simon became the interim executive producer of “60 Minutes” after Mr. Owens was forced out amid disagreements over Paramount executives’ efforts to settle President Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit against CBS, and after a rival CBS News executive from outside “60 Minutes” was tasked with monitoring “60 Minutes” scripts for anti-Israel bias. Since Paramount agreed to settle Mr. Trump’s lawsuit, there was been a flurry of activity as Skydance executives have met with the FCC to discuss the merger and their commitment to unbiased journalism, as well as the end of Paramount’s aggressive diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.One week before the news that the network chose to make Ms. Simon the executive producer, CBS announced that it was canceling “The Late Show,” hosted by an anti-Trump comedian, Stephen Colbert. It is set to go off the air in May. The decision to cancel one of the network’s most recognized programs — even amid reports that it was losing $40 million a year — raised questions about whether Paramount and CBS were beginning to clean up the company’s platforms of virulent anti-conservative and anti-Trump bias, ahead of its new owners’ arrival.President Trump sued CBS for $20 billion over how it edited its interview with Vice President Harris. CBS Inside CBS, Ms. Simon is viewed as a hardliner deeply invested in the “60 Minutes” of yore – politically liberal, anti-Israel, fiercely independent, disdainful of the rest of CBS News, and answering to no one. She reportedly has the strong support of the staff and did not break under pressure during the settlement negotiations between Paramount and Mr. Trump. Under her leadership, “60 Minutes” aired anti-Trump segments week after week, all spring. A veteran media reporter, Matthew Belloni, reported that the chief executive of Skydance is in talks with a former CBS News and former Fox News executive, David Rhodes, to return to run the network, either replacing or “layering” Mr. Cibrowski, who had originally been hired as deputy head of the news division under the since-defenestrated Ms. McMahon. Mr. Rhodes’s years at Fox News, as well as his knowledge of how CBS News works, makes him an attractive candidate to make a sally at breaking CBS News’s back and forcing changes to its producers’ deeply ingrained anti-Trump, anti-MAGA, and anti-Israel bias. (In February, Mr. Cibrowski was brought in as a deputy to then-head of CBS News and Stations, Wendy McMahon, who was struggling to steady the ship as the network was rocked by Mr. Trump’s lawsuit, complaints of an anti-Israel bias, and embarrassing leaks.)Mr. Belloni also reported that Mr. Ellison is in talks with the founder, Bari Weiss, of a pro-Israel outlet, the Free Press, to acquire the Free Press. Mr. Belloni reported that Mr. Ellison envisions a scenario where Mr. Rhodes would manage the day-to-day operations at the network while Ms. Weiss acts as an “ideological guide.” David Ellison and the FCC’s Brendan Carr met in Washington to discuss Ellison’s planned acquisition of Paramount Global. Getty Images / Getty ImagesEarlier this week, the Financial Times reported that Ms. Weiss was seeking between $200 million and $250 million for the Free Press a figure that the three leading media newsletters — “Puck,” “Status,” and “Breaker” – all said was an absurd valuation. It’s not clear if Mr. Ellison, who is backed by his father, Larry Ellison, the world’s second-richest man, is price sensitive.In recent letters sent to the FCC, Skydance said it is committed to unbiased journalism and ensuring “that the company’s array of news and entertainment programming embodies a diversity of viewpoints across the political and ideological spectrum, consistent with the varying perspectives of the viewing audience.” Skydance also said it will commit to bringing on an ombudsman at CBS to “receive and evaluate complaints of bias or other concerns involving CBS” for a “period of at least two years.”While staffers expressed relief about Ms. Simon getting the permanent job, CNN reported that there are “ongoing concerns about what pressures Simon might face as executive producer.”Amid concerns about “60 Minutes” obsessively running anti-Trump stories and potentially provoking the president while Paramount tried to negotiate a settlement as well as persistent complaints of an anti-Israel bias, it was reported that a former president of CBS News, Susan Zirinsky, was asked to review the stories before they aired (which reportedly frustrated Mr. Owens). It remains to be seen whether the new owners of Paramount will seek to replace Ms. Simon in her position or retain her in the role while also bringing in someone to try to rein in the liberal slant.

CBS News Lifer Is Promoted to Top Job at ‘60 Minutes’ After She Oversaw Series of Anti-Trump Stories: Will She Survive in the New, ‘Unbiased’ CBS?

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