CBS News President and CEO Wendy McMahon announced that she will resign from the network due to differences with its owners.
“It’s become clear that the company and I do not agree on the path forward,” McMahon wrote in a memo to staff. “It’s time for me to move on and for this organization to move forward with new leadership.”
Paramount Global co-CEO George Cheeks wrote in a separate memo to employees, “On a personal note, I want to thank Wendy for her partnership over the past four years. Under her leadership, the competitive position and culture at our television stations have improved dramatically, and we’ve expanded local news significantly. Our streaming news platforms — national and local — are stronger and growing, with digital extensions now in place for several of our flagship CBS News broadcasts.”
McMahon’s resignation follows the departure of 60 Minutes producer Bill Owens. He explained in a memo that he could no longer “run the show as I have always run it.”
In March, CBS filed motions to dismiss President Donald Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit concerning the editing of a “60 Minutes” interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. The network argues that the lawsuit lacks jurisdiction and infringes upon First Amendment rights.
Several Democratic senators have called for Paramount to refuse to settle the lawsuit.
“Rewarding Trump with tens of millions of dollars for filing this bogus lawsuit will not cause him to back down on his war against the media and a free press. It will only embolden him to shakedown, extort and silence CBS and other media outlets that have the courage to report about issues that Trump may not like,” the letter, led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT), read. “We urge you and the board of directors at Paramount to make it clear to President Trump today that Paramount will not surrender to his attack on the First Amendment.”
