Norah O’Donnell to Exit ‘CBS Evening News’

Norah O’Donnell is leaving her position as managing editor and anchor of the CBS Evening News following the 2024 presidential election, but she will remain at the network.

In a message she shared Tuesday with her staff, the venerable journalist said it was time for a change. After the 2024 presidential election, O’Donnell, 50, will become a CBS News special correspondent and appear across the network’s news programs, including the CBS Evening News and 60 Minutes.

O’Donnell, who will continue in her role as anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News until she transitions to her new role, was elevated to the network’s flagship news program in July 2019, when she replaced Jeff Glor. O’Donnell was previously a co-host of CBS This Morning. Prior to that, she covered President Barack Obama as the network’s chief White House Correspondent.

“We just celebrated an amazing five years together. I love what I do, and I am so fortunate to work with the best journalists and people in the business. Together, our team has won Emmy, Murrow, and DuPont awards. We managed to anchor in-studio through COVID; we took the broadcast on the road from aircraft carriers to the Middle East, and around the world,” she said in a memo to her staff. “We were privileged to conduct a historic interview with Pope Francis. There’s so much work to be proud of! But I have spent 12 years in the anchor chair here at CBS News, connected to a daily broadcast and the rigors of a relentless news cycle. It’s time to do something different. This presidential election will be my seventh as a journalist, and for many of us in this business we tend to look at our careers in terms of these milestone events.”

She added, “I’ll still be anchoring all of our major coverage this year, election night and hopefully a debate! Beyond that, I’m pleased to share that I have made a long-term commitment to CBS News to continue to do the same storytelling and big interviews that have been our hallmark. I will continue to contribute to Evening News and all of our news broadcasts, including 60 Minutes.”

A replacement has not been named.

Wendy McMahon, president and CEO of CBS News & Stations and CBS Media Ventures, said, via CBS News, O’Donnell’s new role will enable her to “do more of the storytelling and big interviews that are a hallmark of CBS News, as well as Norah’s illustrious career.”

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