A CBS News producer is leaving the network after nearly half a century of service, issuing a dire warning in a farewell memo.
“We’ve been reading a lot of farewells lately and now I’m leaving,” journalist Mary Walsh wrote on Friday in a memo obtained by The Guardian, announcing she was leaving the network after 46 years.
“But maybe that’s for the best,” Walsh wrote, adding that CBS News reporters were told to target their coverage to “certain parts of the political spectrum.”
“I didn’t know what to do,” Walsh added.
Mary Walsh worked at CBS for nearly 50 years. /Mary Walsh/ LinkedIn
The memo comes as CBS parent Paramount Skydance – owned by pro-Trump billionaire David Ellison – emerged as the front-runner on Thursday to buy CNN parent Warner Bros. Discovery, raising concerns among CNN employees that their newsrooms could be taken over like CBS.
Since Ellison acquired Paramount in August, CBS News has been controlled by Barry Weiss, who has been widely criticized for taking the network into Trump-friendly territory as editor-in-chief.
While Walsh’s statement didn’t specify the “specific part of the political spectrum” to which the network directed reporters, Weiss’ tenure has been marked by a series of tumultuous moments.
CBS News, under Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss, has faced criticism for asking reporters to target coverage to specific parts of the political spectrum/Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times
In December, Weiss was criticized for pulling 60 minutes Last minute footage. The clip details horrific conditions at a giant prison in El Salvador housing Venezuelan men deported by President Donald Trump — a story that journalist Charlene Alfonsi, who covered the incident, called “political.”
The following month, at an all-hands meeting at the CBS News bureau, she told employees to resign if they didn’t align with her vision, and offered buyouts to employees the same week.
Walsh is one of nearly a dozen producers to accept buyouts, and isn’t the first to issue a fiery farewell.
Producer Alicia Hasty, who also accepted a buyout and left, complained that reporters at the network were forced to “self-censor or avoid challenging narratives.”
According to The Guardian , Walsh’s exit was described as “pretty big” by one staff member, and CBS News President Tom Cybrowski and senior producer Kate Riedel, who is also leaving the network, gave an affectionate farewell to Walsh during an all-staff editorial call on Friday morning.
A former CNN executive described Walsh as
“Mary Walsh is a legend,” former CNN executive David Clinch said on X, commenting on Walsh’s departure memo.
Meanwhile, Ellison’s acquisition has triggered waves of anxiety at CNN, with insiders describing the level of panic among employees as “beyond imagination” and some even claiming the network is “doomed.”
Anderson Cooper left CBS’s “60 Minutes” in February. /Cindy Ord/Getty Images for CNN
The situation could be especially awkward for Anderson Cooper, who is leaving CBS. 60 minutes In February of this year, became one of the most high-profile departures under Weiss’ leadership, but still served as CNN anchor.
A media insider told NewsNation, “It would be confusing and uncomfortable if Barry and Anderson were under the same roof again.” He added, “Anderson really doesn’t like her and doesn’t want to work for her — and he’s the face of the network. For now.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to CBS News for comment.