{"id":826487,"date":"2025-02-12T11:13:43","date_gmt":"2025-02-12T17:13:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/12\/susan-zirinsky-returns-to-leadership-at-cbs-news-in-response-to-perceived-bias\/"},"modified":"2025-02-12T11:13:43","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T17:13:43","slug":"susan-zirinsky-returns-to-leadership-at-cbs-news-in-response-to-perceived-bias","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/12\/susan-zirinsky-returns-to-leadership-at-cbs-news-in-response-to-perceived-bias\/","title":{"rendered":"Susan Zirinsky Returns to Leadership at CBS News in Response to \u2018Perceived Bias\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Susan Zirinsky will return to CBS News as interim executive editor in response to criticism of \u201cperceived bias\u201d in its news coverage, CBS co-CEO George Cheeks said on Monday.<\/p>\n

In a memo to staff, Cheeks wrote: \u201cIn today\u2019s fast-moving news environment, it is critical for newsrooms to quickly and effectively deliver balanced, accurate, fair and timely reporting, including highly complex, sensitive issues like the war in the Middle East. <\/p>\n

\u201cCBS News takes this responsibility seriously. While there is no way to cover such sensitive issues without provoking some degree of criticism, we have a responsibility to address those concerns. This includes feedback regarding perceived bias in some CBS News coverage. We cannot let this negatively affect our legacy or our future, our mission or our connection to our viewers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zirinsky, a highly respected longtime news veteran, produced a documentary about the Nova Music Festival massacre by Hamas on Oct. 7 called \u201cWe Will Dance Again.\u201d While in the newly created interim role, she will not leave her post as head of See It Now Studios.<\/p>\n

On Sunday \u201c60 Minutes\u201d aired a story about dissent in the State Department over US policy on Gaza on Sunday that drew the fury of Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, for being anti-Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m outraged that\u00a0@CBSnews<\/a>\u00a0@60minutes<\/a>\u00a0would air such a biased and one-sided piece, villainizing Israel and berating US support for its ally,\u201d he wrote on X on Monday. \u201c60 Minutes is supposed to be the gold standard for broadcast journalism, but they completely dropped the ball last night. Where are the counter perspectives to those interviewed? Where is the mention of the nearly 100 hostages \u2013 including Americans \u2013 STILL in captivity!? What kind of journalism is that?\u201d<\/p>\n

The American Jewish Committee also accused the network of bias. \u201cThe segment made almost no mention of Hamas\u2019 actions that started this war, placing Palestinian civilians in Gaza in harm\u2019s way for years by embedding weapons and other terrorist infrastructure in civilian areas,\u201d the group stated. \u201cThe segment only briefly referred to Hamas\u2019 massacre on October 7, 2023, described their fighters as \u2018militants\u2019 rather than terrorists, and even went so far as to elevate the outlandish notion that, following Hamas\u2019 October 7 attack, Israel should have sought to make peace with Hamas terrorists rather than act in self-defense.\u201d<\/p>\n

The shift comes after an internal debate over the network\u2019s coverage of the war in Gaza, which put Cheeks in conflict with Shari Redstone, the media mogul who controls Paramount Global, the owner of CBS News. The network had reprimanded its morning news anchor, Tony Dokoupil, over his handling of an interview with a writer, Ta-Nehisi Coates<\/a>. Dokoupil challenged Coates\u2019 stance on the war in Gaza and Israel\u2019s treatment of West Bank Palestinians. Network president and CEO Wendy McMahon told the staff that the network had reviewed Dokoupil\u2019s interview and that it had fallen short of network standards. Redstone subsequently publicly disagreed, saying, \u201cThey made a mistake here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews previously left her role as CBS News president in July, opting to serve as senior advisor for 2024 presidential election coverage before leaving the company completely amid the Paramount merger.<\/p>\n

\n


\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Donald\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

CBS has elsewhere been under pressure in recent months over its coverage of the 2024 presidential election and accusations that news magazine \u201c60 Minutes\u201d unfairly edited its interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. The network denied having done so. <\/p>\n

\u201cFormer President Donald Trump is accusing \u201960 Minutes\u2019 of deceitful editing of our Oct. 7 interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. That is false,\u201d a spokesperson said of the controversy at the time. \u201cWhen we edit any interview, whether a politician, an athlete, or movie star, we strive to be clear, accurate and on point. The portion of her answer on \u201960 Minutes\u2019 was more succinct, which allows time for other subjects in a wide ranging 21-minute-long segment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump later sued the network for $10 billion, accusing the network of \u201cdeceptive doctoring\u201d of the \u201c60 Minutes\u201d sit-down with Harris. <\/p>\n

Read Cheeks\u2019 Monday evening staff memo regarding Zirinsky\u2019s return in full below: <\/p>\n

CBS News Team \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n

In today\u2019s fast-moving news environment, it is critical for newsrooms to quickly and effectively deliver balanced, accurate, fair and timely reporting, including highly complex, sensitive issues like the war in the Middle East.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

CBS News takes this responsibility seriously. While there is no way to cover such sensitive issues without provoking some degree of criticism, we have a responsibility to address those concerns. This includes feedback regarding perceived bias in some CBS News coverage. We cannot let this negatively affect our legacy or our future, our mission or our connection to our viewers.<\/em><\/p>\n

Wendy and her team have been conducting a search for a newly created Executive Editor position who will sit across the news division with the specific mandate of ensuring we have the expertise, resources and oversight to enable coverage of the most challenging issues with the highest degree of balance and integrity. Standards will report into this new position.<\/em><\/p>\n

We have asked Susan Zirinsky \u2013 whom you are all familiar with \u2013 to serve in this Executive Editor role on an interim basis while we conduct this search.<\/em><\/p>\n

Variety first reported the news<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n


\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"CBS\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Susan Zirinsky will return to CBS News as interim executive editor in response to criticism of \u201cperceived bias\u201d in its news coverage, CBS co-CEO George Cheeks said on Monday. In a memo to staff, Cheeks wrote: \u201cIn today\u2019s fast-moving news environment, it is critical for newsrooms to quickly and effectively deliver balanced, accurate, fair and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":826488,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24337,141674],"tags":[19621,141673],"class_list":{"0":"post-826487","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-susan","8":"category-zirinsky","9":"tag-susan","10":"tag-zirinsky"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/826487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=826487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/826487\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/826488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=826487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=826487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=826487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}