Bari Weiss’ CBS News is losing two of the most senior editorial figures behind “Face the Nation,” and the change has left the future of the iconic news show in chaos.
Mary Hager, the program’s senior executive producer, has told colleagues she is leaving, according to Variety. A 35-year CBS veteran who has run “Face the Nation” for the past 15 years and also serves as the network’s executive editor for politics, Hager will retire in January, according to the sources.
Executive producer Anne Hsu is also moving to the network’s Hong Kong bureau, Status reported. That will strip the public affairs show of both of its top editorial leaders.
The exits come during a rocky stretch for CBS News under Weiss, an ally of President Donald Trump who had never worked in television production before being installed as editor-in-chief. Her tenure has seen falling ratings and a string of high-profile departures. She has also pushed changes at “60 Minutes” that critics say undermine the newsmagazine’s long-standing editorial independence.
Oliver Darcy of the media news site Status wrote that the “Face the Nation” vacancies could let Weiss “steer the influential program more to her liking.” He argued that, at minimum, she will now be able to put her own people in charge and take the show in a new direction. According to Status, Weiss had already explored replacing moderator Margaret Brennan earlier this year, though the idea went nowhere.
CBS staffers face a deadline next week to accept voluntary buyouts ahead of Nov. 18, when parent company Paramount Skydance’s $110 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery takes effect. Darcy predicted a wave of further departures before then, “potentially stripping the network of even more institutional knowledge.”
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