News

One of the two men charged with gunning down celebrated rapper Young Dolph at a Memphis bakery three years ago was convicted on all counts Thursday. After just four hours of deliberation, jurors found Justin Johnson, 26, guilty of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

“As the thirteenth juror, I affirm this verdict. As to the first-degree murder, I sentence you to life in prison,” Shelby County Judge Jennifer Mitchell said as Johnson sat quietly during the proceeding streamed live by Law & Crime.

After the network chose to replace Norah O’Donnell with two male anchors on “CBS Evening News,” Katie Couric openly attacked CBS News for being “out of touch.” Despite CBS’s recent efforts to advance women in senior jobs, decision-making authority still resides primarily in the hands of men, as Couric noted in an op-ed for The New York Times.

The irony in CBS’s reorganization—which saw the appointment of more women to managerial roles—was brought to Couric’s attention when the network chose two men, John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois, to anchor the evening newscast. Although she recognized the skill of both men, she thought it strange that during a period of profound social and political transformation, the hosts of CBS’s evening broadcast would be men.

O’Donnell’s Departure And CBS’s Leadership Changes

Norah O’Donnell, who announced her departure from the anchor chair in July,...

Katie Couric, the former anchor of CBS Evening News, weighed in on the network’s recent overhaul of the nightly broadcast, calling it “more than a little disappointing” that Norah O’Donnell’s successors will be two male anchors.

The network recently announced that John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois would be anchoring CBS Evening News after O’Donnell’s steps down following the November election.

Couric wrote in an op ed in The New York Times, “Don’t get me wrong: I know, like and respect these two journalists. But soon, on the big three networks, there will be four male anchors. Yes, the talented Margaret Brennan will be contributing stories from the Washington bureau for CBS, but the two people who will be greeting Americans watching the CBS evening newscast will be men.”

As Couric noted, after the change, the three broadcast networks’ evening newscasts all will be anchored by men,...

From left: Adrienne Roark, Jennifer Mitchell, Wendy Fisher, Terri Stewart, David Reiter, and Alvin Patrick. (Photo courtesy Paramount Global)

(The following is a press release; its contents were not editorially vetted by The Desk.)

CBS News and Stations is introducing a new editorial leadership structure, with Adrienne Roark and Jennifer Mitchell taking on expanded roles across the local-to-global news organization. Additionally, veteran CBS News and Stations executives will assume key roles and additional responsibilities to join the current team that oversees daily editorial and newsgathering across all platforms. The announcement was made today by Wendy McMahon, president and CEO of CBS News and Stations and CBS Media Ventures.

“Today marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter as we write the future of CBS News and Stations. Our journalists and team members across the division are working together more collaboratively and efficiently to drive impact across all of our shows and streams,...

CBS News and Stations is naming Adrienne Roark the president of editorial and newsgathering as part of a larger organizational shift for the company. Under this same restructure, Jennifer Mitchell has been named president of stations and digital.

“Today marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter as we write the future of CBS News and Stations. Our journalists and team members across the division are working together more collaboratively and efficiently to drive impact across all of our shows and streams,” Wendy McMahon, president and CEO of CBS News and Stations and CBS Media Ventures, said in a statement to press. “I have great confidence in the team we are assembling, beginning with Adrienne and Jennifer, who are terrific partners and inspirational, aspirational and empathetic leaders. This structure is designed to support and build our next-generation news organization. By working with our talented teams in every newsroom, each of...

The next president of CBS News will also run a group of major market local stations in New York and Boston. The next head of CBS’ local stations will also supervise digital properties tied to national programming.

Adrienne Roark and Jennifer Mitchell will take new oversight of CBS News and CBS’ local stations, respectively, in the latest batch of maneuvers by Paramount Global to combine the operations of both businesses. Their duties show the emphasis CBS is putting on merging local TV operations and national newsgathering — two of the bedrock operations of the media business — at at time when the rise of streaming video has thrown their economics into disarray. And they leave CBS News with a senior executive team that is better versed in the business of TV than in the editorial decisions that lead to the creation of news content.

“Our journalists and team members across the division...

CBS News and Stations is rolling out a new executive leadership structure under CEO Wendy McMahon.

Among the big changes are some promotions: Adrienne Roark will become president of editorial and newsgathering for CBS News and Stations, assuming most of the responsibilities of Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews, who exited as president of CBS News last month.

Jennifer Mitchell will become president of stations and digital for CBS News and Stations, overseeing the local TV stations and the division’s digital efforts.

Notably, McMahon will oversee all CBS News network broadcasts, “working directly with the executive producers of those shows to continue to maximize the organization’s brands and editorial capabilities across all screens and platforms,” per CBS.

“Today marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter as we write the future of CBS News and Stations. Our journalists and team members across the division are working together more collaboratively and efficiently to...

Exclusive: Adrienne Roark and Jennifer Mitchell will take on expanded roles as part of a new leadership structure at CBS News and Stations, the latest changes at the division.

Roark will serve as president of editorial and newsgathering for CBS News and Stations, assuming the responsibilities of Ingrid Ciprián-Matthews, who stepped down as president of CBS News and will serve as senior editorial adviser through the election. Roark will lead field and newsroom and newsgathering teams as well as CBS News Radio.

Roark, who had been president of content development and integration, also will continue to lead the CBS Local News Innovation Lab in Dallas-Fort Worth; the Centers of Excellence she has built around data journalism, weather and specialized beats/units; and Wcbs and Wlny in New York, as well as Wbz and Wsbk in Boston.

Mitchell will become president of stations and digital for CBS News and Stations, with primary responsibility for CBS Stations,...