A CBS Evening News producer has complained that journalists are being forced to “self-censor or avoid challenging narratives” under the network’s new Trump-friendly management.
The attack came in a fiery farewell note to colleagues from producer Alicia Hastey explaining her decision to take a buyout and leave the program. The letter was shared on X by New York Times media reporter Ben Mullin.
Hastey does not mention by name either Bari Weiss, the MAGA-curious TV novice now running CBS News, or Tony Dokoupil, the much-criticized Evening News host Weiss installed.
Hastey does namecheck and quote the late Walter Cronkite, the legendary CBS News anchor with whom the lightweight Dokoupil has been unfavorably compared.
“I am proud of the work that’s been done in my time here,” Hastey wrote before sharing some of her proudest moments as a producer, including “spotlight[ing] numerous communities buoyed by love, kindness and care for humanity.”
“But, there has been a sweeping new vision prioritizing a break from traditional broadcast norms to embrace what has been described as ‘heterodox’ journalism,” she continued.
“The truth is that commitment to those people and the stories they have to tell is increasingly becoming impossible. Stories may instead be evaluated not just on their journalistic merit but on whether they conform to a shifting set of ideological expectations,” Hastey wrote, adding that this created “a dynamic that pressures producers and reporters to self-censor or avoid challenging narratives that might trigger backlash or unfavorable headlines.”
Hastey made a point to note that the problems faced by the newsroom since Weiss was appointed last year by billionare Trump ally David Ellison, do not detract from the talent of the reporters who remain at the network and continue to produce “thoughtful and important work, even under difficult circumstances.”
“That is precisely what makes this moment so heartbreaking: the very excellence we seek to sustain is hindered by fear and uncertainty.”
She continued her farewell letter by turning to Cronkite. Dokoupil raised eyebrows in January when he claimed that he would be “more accountable” than the CBS legend. Hastey does not seem convinced. She quoted Cronkite as saying:
“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.”
“Cronkite’s idea is one of the best I’ve encountered,” Hastey wrote. “He understood that labels are inevitable, but standards are what matter. What defines journalism is not what critics call it, but whether it remains faithful to those principles.”
“I’ve always taken comfort in the belief that if we hold fast to those first ideals, trust follows. But those ideals cannot stand on their own. They require vigilance. They require courage.”
The Daily Beast has contacted Hastey and CBS News for comment.
Hastey joined the network in 2021 after previously working at NBC News for seven years. She worked alongside correspondents like Janet Shamlian, Major Garrett, and James Brown, all of whom she mentioned in her farewell letter.
She joins at least 10 of her colleagues who took buyouts this week, at least six of whom worked as producers for the network’s flagship evening news program.
“It’s a lot of people,” one CBS insider told the New York Post. “Seems like people are jumping ship,” said another.
The exodus comes just weeks after former morning show co-host Dokoupil took over as evening news anchor, resulting in the network receiving some of its lowest ratings in 26 years.
Since Dokoupil’s Jan.5 debut, CBS Evening News has brought in an average of 4.3 million viewers per night, 560,000 of whom are between 25 and 54 years old, resulting in its lowest-rated January since at least 2000.
In addition, overall ratings are down 20 percent since this time last year when Norah O’Donnell hosted the show.
Weiss has faced significant pushback from employees since joining the network and attempting to steer it in a more conservative direction.
After Weiss shelved a 60 Minutes special on the notorious CECOT prison in El Salvador in December, claiming that it needed further comment from the White House, CBS correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi condemned the move, describing it as political.
“Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices,” Alfonsi, 53, wrote to her colleagues. “It is factually correct. In my view, pulling it now, after every rigorous internal check has been met, is not an editorial decision; it is a political one.”
“If the standard for airing a story becomes ‘the government must agree to be interviewed,’ then the government effectively gains control over the 60 Minutes broadcast. We go from an investigative powerhouse to a stenographer for the state.”
