Embattled CBS News Chief ‘To Meet With Future Bosses’ Amid Cascading Crises Over Anti-Israel and Anti-Trump Liberal Bias

Roughly a week and a half after internal tumult engulfed CBS News in multiple controversies, the news operation’s CEO, Wendy McMahon, is expected to meet with the executives who will likely be deciding her future, according to Puck.The meeting, set to take place on October 17, will include Skydance CEO David Ellison and RedBird chairman Jeff Shell, who will soon own CBS’ parent company, Paramount Global. It is part of a series of meetings Mr. Ellison and Mr. Shell are holding with senior Paramount executives as they prepare to take over the company.Puck reports these meetings are designed to give Mr. Ellison and Mr. Shell time to “familiarize themselves with the business, get to know the leadership, and, presumably, decide who they want to keep on the payroll.”The meetings come at an inopportune time for Ms. McMahon as CBS News has been consumed by controversies about anti-Israel, anti-Trump and pro-Kamala Harris bias. Ms. McMahon and her new deputy, whose backgrounds are entirely in local TV news. have come under fierce criticism for their inexperience in managing the sensitive editorial matters that arise at a national news division.CBS Mornings’ Tony Dokoupil interviews Ta-Nehisi Coates. CBS NewsPuck’s Dylan Byers notes that,“Controversy will inevitably be the 12,000-pound elephant in the room,” during Ms. McMahon’s meeting with the Skydance brass.. “Like the rest of the industry, Skydance and RedBird executives have been buzzing about the five-alarm shitshow.”The Tiffany network’s problems began last week when a recording of an October 7 news division-wide Monday morning meeting was leaked. Ms. McMahon and her deputy, Adrienne Roark, were heard criticizing “CBS Mornings” co-anchor Tony Dokoupil about his polite but contentious interview with the virulently anti-Israel author, Ta-Nehisi Coates. Ms. Roark told the staff that the interview did not meet its editorial standards. Her timing of delivering the reprimand on October 7, the anniversary of the Hamas attack, has been widely criticized.The network’s handling of the situation drew a rare public rebuke from the outgoing chairwoman of Paramount Global, Shari Redstone, who said during the Advertising Week conference at New York City that she thought the executives made a “mistake” and praised Mr. Dokoupil. However, the president of the CBS Entertainment Group and co-chief of Paramount, George Cheeks, defended Ms. McMahon, calling her an “outstanding” and “accomplished” leader.Kamala Harris sits down with Bill Whitaker for her ’60 Minutes’ interview. CBS NewsYet, Mr. Cheeks’ endorsement did not quell speculation about the futures of Ms. McMahon and Ms. Roark, who came to CBS News from the company’s local news operation, alongside the third executive in the troika, Jennifer Mitchell, who is also from local news. The women are widely believed to have been installed to cut costs by integrating CBS News’ operations into those of the local station group, a prospect that has horrified CBS News loyalists. The loyalists are also dismayed that Ms. McMahon chose to bring in Ms. Roark and Ms. Mitchell to run CBS News after she ousted longtime executive Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews.Puck reported that “many at CBS News, and across the media industry more broadly,” saw the handling of the Dokoupil situation as a “leadership failure on the part of McMahon, who had simultaneously exposed a star anchor and let an internal editorial debate metastasize into a full-blown controversy.”Besides the controversy surrounding the network’s handling of Mr. Coates’ interview, it is also facing scrutiny due to allegations that CBS News’ flagship broadcast, “60 Minutes”, selectively edited an interview with Vice President Harris to make her sound coherent. And on Monday, House Speaker Johnson accused CBS News’ Sunday morning public affairs program, “Face the Nation”, of selectively editing a taped interview they did with him.In Ms. Harris’s case, three different clips surfaced in which she was asked the same question about Israel. In each clip, she gave a different answer. In Mr. Johnson’s case, the network cut out about six minutes of the version of his interview that aired on TV and, Mr. Johnson said, removed his criticism of the Biden administration’s hurricane response and his comments about election fraud. Speaker Mike Johnson appears on CBS News ‘Face the Nation’ on Sunday. CBS NewsIt is not unusual for networks to edit interviews due to time limitations and for clarity. However, the changes made to the vice president’s interview have drawn particular attention because of her history of struggling to make crisp, coherent points while speaking without notes. On Monday, Speaker Johnson accused CBS’s “Face the Nation” of selectively editing his interview” with host Margaret Brennan to “undermine” Republicans. “to promote Democrats and undermine Republicans.”A spokesperson for CBS News directed the Sun to the full transcript of the Johnson interview, which was posted online. Ms. Brennan was already facing criticism from conservatives after she chose to “fact check” Senator Vance during the vice presidential debate, despite CBS News saying there would not be fact-checking by the moderators. Ms. Brennan and her co-moderator, Norah O’Donnell, did not to give Governor Walz the same treatment as Mr. Vance during the debate. CBS News chief Wendy McMahon (L) received a strong vote of support from her boss, CBS chief George Cheeks, after she came under criticism for her deputy’s reprimand of CBS Mornings’ co-host Tony Dokoupil, for how he challenged Ta-Nehisi Coates over his virulent anti-Israel views. Getty ImagesPresident Trump is calling the edits made to Ms. Harris’ interview with “60 Minutes” the “Greatest Fraud in Broadcast History.”As questions swirl about the motivations behind the editing of Ms. Harris’ interview, the Telegraph reported Ms. McMahon donated $6,100 to President Biden’s 2020 campaign and other Democrats in the last three months of the 2020 election. The outlet also reported that Mr. Cheeks “also donated hundreds of dollars to Mr Biden’s campaign and other Democrats in the 2020 election cycle.”Ms. McMahon’s donations occurred before she joined the leadership team at CBS News, where employees are prohibited from donating to campaigns or parties. Mr. Cheeks is not bound by that rule as he does not work in the news division. On Puck’s Monday podcast, co-founder Jon Kelly predicted to Mr. Byers that Ms. McMahon would not be in her job come the new year. A representative from Skydance did not respond to a request for comment about the meeting.

Embattled CBS News Chief ‘To Meet With Future Bosses’ Amid Cascading Crises Over Anti-Israel and Anti-Trump Liberal Bias

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