{"id":272607,"date":"2019-05-06T15:01:00","date_gmt":"2019-05-06T21:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/b1038734"},"modified":"2019-05-06T15:01:00","modified_gmt":"2019-05-06T21:01:00","slug":"untangling-the-drama-at-cbs-news-gayle-king-norah-odonnell-and-the-unsurprising-sexist-twist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kidn\/music-news\/untangling-the-drama-at-cbs-news-gayle-king-norah-odonnell-and-the-unsurprising-sexist-twist\/","title":{"rendered":"Untangling the Drama at CBS News: Gayle King, Norah O’Donnell and the Unsurprising Sexist Twist"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Gayle<\/p>\n

Michele Crowe\/CBS via Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Gayle King<\/a><\/strong> and Norah O’Donnell<\/strong> have been through a lot together as co-anchors of CBS This Morning<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

From the daily grind of waking up before dawn to tape a live show five days a week to the awkwardness of having to report on the firing<\/a> of their fellow anchor Charlie Rose <\/strong>in 2017, the pair have become one of the most enduring duos on TV in the ongoing revolving-door era of broadcasting.<\/p>\n

But just when viewers thought the dust had settled at CBS News, another shake-up has rattled the foundation of the network’s flagship morning show.<\/p>\n

Amid surprising rumors that King and O’Donnell’s relationship had taken a turn for the toxic, O’Donnell has been announced as the new managing editor and anchor of the CBS Evening News <\/em>after almost seven years working mornings alongside King and, for the past year, John Dickerson<\/strong>. Moreover, they’re moving the nightly news broadcast to Washington, D.C., where O’Donnell has a home, this fall.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n

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“Norah is one of the leading journalists of our time. Her outstanding reporting, incisive interviews and dedication to the truth will distinguish the CBS Evening News<\/em> every night,” CBS News President and Executive Producer Susan Zirinsky<\/strong> said in a statement announcing the move on Monday.<\/p>\n

Her ascendance to the evening anchor chair previously occupied by the likes of Walter Cronkite<\/strong>, Dan Rather<\/strong> and Katie Couric<\/a><\/strong>means that she’ll be only the third woman ever to be the solo anchor of a broadcast network evening newscast. It also means that Jeff Glor<\/strong>, who has had the job since October 2017, is out.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Jeff<\/p>\n

Tiffany Walling McGarity\/CBS via Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“We are grateful to Jeff Glor for his award-winning work and his commitment to both his colleagues and to our viewers,” Zirinsky said. “As we transition the Evening News<\/em> to Washington, we are discussing opportunities for Jeff to remain with CBS News and continue providing the same substantive, trusted reporting that he has been offering for the past 12 years.” (Sources told Page Six<\/a> and the New York Times<\/a><\/em> last week that the veteran newsman will likely be offered another role at the network. King said Monday on the air that Glor’s “conversations, you should know, with CBS News continue, and we all hope very much that he will continue working here; it will be his decision.”)<\/p>\n

Dickerson, who was their chief Washington correspondent and host of Face the Nation<\/em> before joining CBS This Morning<\/em>, is also headed back to the political beat for 60 Minutes <\/em>and the network’s election coverage. Anthony<\/strong> Mason<\/strong>, coming over from CBS This Morning Saturday<\/em>, <\/strong>and CBS News correspondent Tony Dokoupil <\/strong>are now headed to CBS This Morning<\/em> as King’s new co-anchors.<\/p>\n

Page Six reported<\/a> last week that King had given the final nudge that sent O’Donnell out of the a.m. fold, and that her recent contract negotiation\u2014coming in the wake of her lauded interview<\/a> with R. Kelly<\/a><\/strong>\u2014included the stipulation that O’Donnell had to go.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n

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Zirinsky\u2014a 46-year veteran of CBS News (and inspiration for Holly Hunter<\/strong>‘s producer character in Broadcast News<\/em>) who was promoted to her current role in January in the wake of CBS Chairman Les Moonves<\/strong>‘ scandal-cloaked departure<\/a>, the firing<\/a> of longtime 60 Minutes<\/em> executive producer Jeff Fager<\/strong> and the resignation<\/a> of previous CBS News President David Rhodes<\/strong>\u2014called a headline stating King had “pushed” O’Donnell out “offensive and 100 percent false.”<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Norah<\/p>\n

Michele Crowe\/CBS via Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Early last month, DailyMail.com<\/a> reported that O’Donnell was after Glor’s job and sources called her “demanding” and “divisive.” A CBS News spokesperson called that characterization “grossly inaccurate” and said she was a trusted member of the team.<\/p>\n

O’Donnell’s agent told the Post<\/a> this month, in response to reports that O’Donnell’s attitude was problematic: “In her 20-plus year career in news, she’s become an unquestioned leader in her field. If she was a man, these kind of unsupported accusations would never be reported.”<\/p>\n

Add the situation at CBS News, or lack thereof, to the list of instances of the behind-the-scenes politicking at a morning show\u2014exaggerated or not\u2014proving more engrossing than the news being reported on camera, to which whole books on the subject, including Brian Stelter<\/strong>‘s Top of the Morning <\/em>and the brand-new Ladies Who Punch<\/em> by Ramin Setoode<\/strong>, about the goings-on at The View<\/em>, can attest.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n

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Top of the<\/em> Morning<\/em>, which came out in 2013, <\/em>mainly chronicles past drama at NBC and ABC, but CBS’ day in the hot seat was around the corner. At the time, Charlie Rose, Gayle King and Norah O’Donnell had only been co-anchoring CBS This Morning <\/em>since 2012 (O’Donnell replaced Erica Hill<\/strong><\/a>, the only holdover from CBS This Morning <\/em>predecessor The Early Show<\/em>, seven months in), so the main story emanating from CBS back then was only that it was testing out ways to compete more with Today<\/em> and Good Morning America<\/em>.<\/p>\n

And while they remained primarily in third place, the trio of King, O’Donnell and Rose proved a winning combination\u2014until Rose’s prestigious career came to a screeching halt<\/a> a year and a half ago in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations first reported by the Washington Post<\/em>.<\/p>\n

With success comes more scrutiny, so it eventually was a toss-up as to which network was having the bigger issue on any given day (though ABC’s The View<\/em> presumably holds the record for sheer quantity when it comes to reports of discord among the talent).<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n

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But despite official assurance that the whispers about O’Donnell only amount to so much sexist tripe since ambition, even <\/em>in 2019, is still considered a better look for men, there’s at least no denying now that everyone except King is, in fact, changing jobs.<\/p>\n

Hence the CBS This Morning <\/em>team of King, O’Donnell and Dickerson taking the first opportunity Monday to explain what was happening.<\/p>\n

“So you might have been reading about all the speculation,” King began. “We thought today would be a good day to hear it from the horse’s mouth.” King turned to O’Donnell and Dickerson. “Hello, horses,” she quipped.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n

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