Former CBS News president Susan Zirinsky is returning to a leadership role at the news division as executive editor on a temporary basis.
CBS CEO George Cheeks announced Zirinsky’s role in a memo Monday evening. Zirinsky, or “Z” as she is affectionately known inside CBS, will also continue to run the documentary division See it Now Studios.
Cheeks said that CBS News and Stations chief Wendy McMahon has been searching for an executive editor “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.”
He noted that complex, charged news like the conflict in Gaza can be challenging to navigate. An interview conducted by CBS Mornings co-anchor Tony Dokoupil even became national news, and sparked a response from Paramount controlling shareholder Shari Redstone.
And on Monday, the Anti-Defamation League released a statement criticizing a 60 Minutes statement as “biased and one-sided” against Israel.
“While there is no way to cover such sensitive issues without provoking some degree of criticism, we have a responsibility to address those concerns,” Cheeks wrote Monday. “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.”
Zirinsky, a longtime executive producer of news magazine 48 Hours, stepped down as CBS News president in 2021 after two years in the post. She currently leads the content studio See It Now Studios for the company, producing news, documentary, and nonfiction programming for CBS, Paramount+ and other platforms.
Among the documentaries Zirinsky has produced include projects on John Lewis, 9/11, the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting and the 2014 Ferguson unrest.
Most recently, Zirinsky produced the documentary We Will Dance Again, which takes a minute-by-minute, you-are-there approach to Hamas’ terrorist attack on Nova music festival attendees in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Read Cheeks’ memo, below.
CBS News Team —
In today’s 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.
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.
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.
We have asked Susan Zirinsky – whom you are all familiar with – to serve in this Executive Editor role on an interim basis while we conduct this search.
George
English (US) ·