CBS News Correspondent Announces Sudden Departure From Network: ‘My Work Will Soon No Longer Appear’

CBS News justice correspondent Scott MacFarlane announced his departure from the network on Monday, telling colleagues he was looking “forward to some independence” for his work.

“To my incredible colleagues at CBS: I want to personally let you know that my work will soon no longer appear on CBS News,” announced MacFarlane in a memo to colleagues. “This is my decision, and I appreciate the bosses at CBS for understanding it.”

The note continued:

I will always value the opportunity I had to work alongside the talented and committed professionals here. I’m proud to have had the words ‘CBS correspondent’ next to my name – always will be.

For the next phase of my career, I look forward to some independence and finding new spaces to share my work in line with my personal goals. I thank you all. The work will not stop, and I’ll always be a call away

MacFarlane joined CBS News as a correspondent in 2021 and rose to prominence at the network with his coverage of the aftermath of the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.

His final article for the network, dated last Friday, was an article about the incident.

According to Guardian U.S. media reporter Jeremy Barr, “it was known that MacFarlane was unhappy with the network’s very brief mention of the Jan. 6 anniversary on the CBS Evening News.”

MacFarlane is the latest in a string of CBS News employees to leave the network since its takeover by David Ellison and the installation of Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief last year.

CBS Evening News co-anchor John Dickerson announced his departure from the network in October shortly after Weiss took over as editor-in-chief.

Last month, CBS Evening News producer Alicia Hastey and 60 Minutes correspondent Anderson Cooper also resigned from the network.

“There has been a sweeping new vision prioritizing a break from traditional broadcast norms to embrace what has been described as ‘heterodox’ journalism,” said Hastey in her resignation note. “Stories may be instead be evaluated not just on their journalistic merit but on whether they conform to a shifting set of ideological expectations — a dynamic that pressures producers and reporters to self-censor or avoid challenging narratives that might trigger backlash or unfavorable headlines.”

Hastey concluded that work at the network was being “hindered by fear and uncertainty.”

According to Status’s Oliver Darcy, Cooper left the network for similar reasons, expressing concern over the “rightward direction the network has taken” under Weiss.

While it had been reported in October that CBS News anchor Gayle King was expected to leave her position following the expiration of her contract, King announced this month that she had signed a new contract with the network.

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