CBS News has had its fair share of behind-the-scenes controversies and troubles in recent years, tied in part to the ousting of the once-revered journalist Charlie Rose. CBS This Morning in particular is currently going through something of a facelift, thanks to a variety of changes in its hosting and anchor lineup. The long-rumored updates were finally introduced on the air by Gayle King herself, who confirmed she will remain part of CBS This Morning's front line.
Below, we'll take a look at each of the changes coming to CBS This Morning and, by extension, other sections of the CBS News corp. Let's kick things off with the early-hours mainstay itself.
CBS This Morning's New Team
For the very near future, CBS This Morning will continue on with its current trio of Gayle King, Norah O'Donnell and John Dickerson, but that will all change on Monday, May 20. Well, it won't ALL change, since King will still be heading things up.
Gayle King will no longer be sharing the news desk with Norah O'Donnell or John Dickerson on May 20. She will instead welcome CBS This Morning: Saturday co-host Anthony Mason and CBS Sunday Morning contributor Tony Dokoupil. 2019 marks King's seventh year as host of CBS This Morning, and though there were reports circling that she could be leaving the broadcast following a show producer's exit, it appears those talks were premature.
Anthony Mason has been a part of the CBS News team since 1986, when he started his globe-spanning reporting duties, with some of his stories over the years having earned him prestigious awards, including seven Emmys and a James Beard award. In the past decade in particular, Mason has been a major part of CBS News' election coverage, though it's not clear if this new position will affect his future with elections.
Mason has, since 2012, served as a co-anchor on CBS This Morning Saturday, which has been a quite successful for him. He also became a regular correspondent for CBS Sunday Morning, though that role was decreased in 2017 when Mason became a temporary replacement for Scott Pelley on CBS Evening News. (Jeff Glor later took over that permanent role.)
Tony Dokoupil, meanwhile, has only been with CBS News since 2016. Prior to that, he worked for NBC News, partly as a correspondent for MSNBC programs. Before then, Dokoupil served as a senior writer for Newsweek and the Daily Beast, and also penned the memoir The Last Pirate: A Father, His Son and the Golden Age of Marijuana, chronicling his father's weed smuggling operations in the '70s and '80s.
With reporting that has graced all of CBS News' programming, Tony Dokoupil has been a daily reporter for both CBS This Morning and CBS Evening News, and has sat in as a substitute anchor on several news programs. He's also been a regular contributor on CBS Sunday Morning.
Norah O'Donnell Leaves For Evening News
Having served as CBS This Morning's co-host since 2012, which came after she joined CBS News in 2011, Norah O'Donnell will soon be saying goodbye to her spot alongside Gayle King. King may also be part of the reason why O'Donnell is leaving, if the rumor mill can be believed at all.
Norah O'Donnell was named the new anchor and Managing Editor of CBS Evening News, which is a step in the later-day direction for the Emmy-winning journalist. Having also contributed to 60 Minutes over the years, which she will continue to do, O'Donnell has earned many accolades over the years for stories on politics, social wrongdoings, disasters and more, and CBS is obviously hoping she'll add a boost to its nightly news coverage.
The CBS Evening News with Norah O'Donnell, as it will be called, will make its debut on the network this summer. Though the program will initially continue to be produced in New York as it currently is, this fall will see the series shift its production to Washington D.C. The goal there will be to provide the Evening News team with more exclusive access to local politicians and lawmakers, and as Managing Editor, O'Donnell will be one of the minds in charge of making those big interviews happen.
John Dickerson Will Leave For 60 Minutes
John Dickerson was the newest of the CBS This Morning anchors, having taken a permanent position on the news program in January 2018, two months after Charlie Rose was fired. Now, he'll be taking on a new role as a correspondent for the venerable 60 Minutes.
Not only will John Dickerson bring his acclaimed and respected approach to interviews and politics to 60 Minutes as a correspondent, but he'll also continue to serve as a key contributor in the real of political coverage for primaries and election night specials.
Prior to joining CBS This Morning, Dickerson was an anchor on Face the Nation, and was CBS News' main Washington D.C. correspondent. He'd joined CBS news in 2009 after a decade of covering politics for Slate, which came after twelve years of political coverage for Time magazine.
Below, you can watch the announcements being made on CBS This Morning.
While many fans expected for this long-awaited set of announcements to also include some follow-up information on longtime CBS This Morning correspondent Jeff Glor, he was the one journalist who didn't get a career update during the telecast. As it was mentioned above, Glor became a permanent anchor on CBS Evening News as a replacement for Scott Pelley, but it's unclear what his role will be in the future now that Norah O'Donnell is running Evening things.
In Gayle King's words, which appear to put all the pressure on Jeff Glor himself:
Jeff Glor is a fantastic journalist and trusted colleague here, and we all hope very much he will continue working here; it will be his decision.
This official report comes a little over a month after CBS This Morning co-host Banna Golodryga suddenly exited both the morning show and the network altogether. It was reported that CBS execs offered her different roles within the network's news sector, but that she declined. Golodryga has continued to serve in her contributor role for CNN in the meantime.
For now, the status quo will be upheld on CBS This Morning, which will revert to its new lineup on Monday, May 20. The program airs weekday mornings on CBS at 8:00 a.m. ET.
