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In a stunning shake-up at the sinking CBS Evening News, veteran anchor John Dickerson abruptly announced his exit Monday, ditching the co-host gig after just nine months of ratings hemorrhage and zero excuses given.
Dickerson, 57, broke the news on Instagram, declaring, "Local news: At the end of this year, I will leave CBS, sixteen years after I sat in as Face the Nation anchor for the first time. I am extremely grateful for all that CBS gave me — the work, the audience’s attention and the honor of being a part of the network’s history — and I am grateful for my dear colleagues who’ve made me a better journalist and a better human. I will miss you."
No next gig mentioned.
Dickerson joined CBS in 2009, snagged the network's crown jewel earlier this year alongside Maurice DuBois in a desperate bid to replace Norah O'Donnell.
The duo's experiment bombed spectacularly, with viewership cratering 14 percent to 3.6 million nightly.
Fired or fled? Unclear. His last broadcast airs in December.
Enter Bari Weiss, 41, the anti-woke warrior tapped this month as CBS News editor-in-chief by new owner David Ellison.
The Free Press founder, who bolted The New York Times in 2021 over its suffocating liberal orthodoxy and bully culture, sold her outlet to Paramount in a $150 million coup.
Her mandate: Slash leftist bloat, reclaim trust, spike ratings.
Evening News woes predated Weiss, but whispers swirl she's cleaning house.
CBS President Tom Cibrowski praised Dickerson after he announced he was ditching the gig, lauding, "He epitomizes the very best in journalism. We'll have plenty of time to thank him for his work here and honor his contributions to our success."
DuBois solo? TBD.
Weiss reportedly met O'Donnell and eyes Fox News Channel's Bret Baier to take on the CBS role, though Baier is contracted with Fox through 2028.
CBS Mornings' Gayle King faces the chopping block soon, insiders say.
Dickerson, son of trailblazing CBS correspondent Nancy Dickerson, who shattered glass ceilings in 1960 and died in 1997, earned "Dickersonian" fame for grilling George W. Bush.
As corporate media dinosaurs like CBS gasp for relevance in a viewer revolt against bias and boredom, the legacy gatekeepers bleed out, proving once again that truth-crushing empires built on one-sided narratives are crumbling under their own weight.
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