CBS News Restructures Executive News Team

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CBS News is making some moves at the top of the food chain.

Here is the internal memo sent to the staff and obtained by FTVLive:

From: CBS News Communications

Date: February 7, 2019 at 10:31:42 AM EST

Subject: A note from Susan Zirinsky

Good morning,

At 11:30 in the News Hub we will be announcing the reorganization of our CBS News executive team.

This new structure is designed to strengthen our editorial processes and daily operations. CBS News needs to be essential. CBS News needs to be one news organization across all platforms, bringing CBS News back to the journalistic powerhouse it can be.

I asked all of you to help, and you have. I’ve met with so many of you and will keep meeting with anyone who wants to sit down with me. There have been some really strong and thoughtful ideas that will strengthen our editorial and continue the changes in culture that are vital to our future.

The first step is putting the leadership in place. We need strategic collaborative teams with defined areas of responsibility. I will get into specifics when we gather in the newsroom, but here are the headlines.

Kim Godwin will become the Executive Vice President of News, overseeing newsgathering around the world including the national desks, foreign desks, all bureaus and day-to-day oversight of all developing news. Kim will work closely with each broadcast as they shape their editorial for the day.

Kim will organize the News Division on breaking news and in planning our coverage of major events along with a new Special Events Unit. She will also work with the executive producers spearheading unique editorial initiatives that CBS News wants to take on.

Kim has established an enormous footprint in our drive to create a more diverse and inclusive workplace. Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews will be taking on these very important responsibilities as we expand this effort more broadly in this organization.

Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews will become Executive Vice President of Strategic Professional Development. She will be focused on recruitment and development of off-air talent. Ingrid will be the key liaison to affinity and professional journalism organizations. She will work closely with me and be a key voice in maintaining our high ethical and editorial standards in the News Division. Ingrid will be overseeing the successful Wisdom Series and be organizing workshops to help our internal staff reach their full potential. As a veteran of CBS News, Ingrid will also lend her support to the News Division’s new and expanding human resources department as they launch new initiatives focused on enhancing our culture. Just as we are focused on recruiting and retaining employees –we also to make sure we have a positive workplace environment and the ability to respond and be attentive to any concerns when they arise.

Charles Pavlounis will assume an expanded role of Executive Vice President of Business Development and Chief Financial Officer. He will oversee all aspects of the News Division’s finances, business operations, CBS Newspath, CBS News Radio and new business initiatives centered around content development – such as 48Hours: NCIS, Whistleblowers and the new and highly successful “Mobituaries” podcast. Charlie will be driving our organization forward by focusing on content creation to develop new revenue streams and opportunities for growth. He will accomplish this by capitalizing on the incredible public demand for high quality content and taping into the vast resources and assets currently available within our division. It’s a win-win for us, both creatively and financially.

Some other announcements:

Terri Stewart becomes Vice President and National Editor.

Andy Clarke, London Bureau Chief, becomes Vice President and London Bureau Chief. We are adding Asia to Andy’s portfolio.

Craig Swagler, General Manager for CBS News Radio, becomes Vice President of CBS News Radio.

Brian Applegate becomes Executive Producer of CBS This Morning Saturday.

Tony Cavin becomes Foreign Editor Hard News.

Ana Real becomes Foreign Editor Prime Time.

Please join me in congratulating them on their new roles.

A top priority for the organization is to create a single CBS News brand Christy Tanner, Kim Godwin and I are working closely on this already. There are some dynamic ideas in working more efficiently and creatively that will enable us to do even more memorable journalism.

Make no mistake about it, news is a team sport.

This is the right team and the right structure to take us in to the future.

See you in the newsroom at 11.30 AM. A dial-in will be provided for the bureaus.

Z