CBS Evening News producer quits over Bari Weiss revamp, citing ‘fear and uncertainty’ and ‘ideological expectations’

A CBS Evening News producer said Wednesday she’s taking a buyout from the company in part because new leadership has created “fear and uncertainty” that hinders the company’s journalistic legacy.

Alicia Hastey said in a fiery note to staff, obtained by New York Times reporter Ben Mullin, that she was taking a buyout from the network after working as a producer for four years.

“There has been a sweeping new vision prioritizing a break from traditional broadcast norms to embrace what has been described as ‘heterodox’ journalism. The truth is that commitment to those people and the stories they have to tell is increasingly becoming impossible,” Hastey wrote.

Hastey said under the new leadership of CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss, stories are no longer evaluated for journalistic merit but “whether they conform to a shifting set of ideological expectations.”

“A dynamic that pressures producers and reporters to self-censor or avoid challenging narratives that might trigger backlash or unfavorable headlines,” Hastey added.

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Hastey is just one of the reported six CBS Evening News producers who have recently taken a buyout to jump ship from the program that Weiss, a former NYT columnist with no broadcast experience, has revamped.

In her note, Hastey praised the journalists currently working at CBS Evening News, calling them talented and thoughtful despite dealing with “difficult circumstances.”

“That is precisely what makes this moment so heartbreaking: the very excellence we seek to sustain is hindered by fear and uncertainty.”

In addition to the six producers, roughly 11 staffers have opted for buyouts, sources told the New York Post.

The Independent has asked CBS for comment.

Since being installed as editor-in-chief, thanks to the Paramount Skydance merger, Weiss has been determined to give CBS Evening News a more conservative voice with pro-Trump segments and narratives. But as a result, the network has seen declining ratings.

Media leaks have painted a grim behind-the-scenes picture of morale at the network, with staffers growing increasingly unhappy over Weiss’s editorial choices. That includes delaying a 60 Minutes segment on CECOT – the brutal El Salvador prison where the administration has sent deported immigrants.

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In recent internal meetings, Weiss has told staff that the network needs to move in a different direction from the nostalgic era of legendary anchor Walter Cronkite.

Hastey also invoked Cronkite in her farewell message.

“Walter Cronkite once said in response to critics: ‘If that is what makes us liberals, so be it, just as long as in reporting the news we adhere to the first ideals of good journalism – that news reports must be fair, accurate and unbiased.’”

“Cronikite’s idea is one of the best I’ve encountered. He understood that labels are inevitable, but standards are what matter. What defines journalism is not what critical calls it, but whether it remains faithful to those principles.”