Embattled CBS News President Departs After Brief 7-Month Tenure

Adrienne Roark, who served as CBS News’ president of editorial and newsgathering, is stepping down after just seven months in the role to take a senior position at Tegna. Her departure marks the end of a short but eventful stint at the helm of the network’s news division.

Adrienne Roark

Roark’s exit coincides with a turbulent period for CBS. The network is currently embroiled in a $20 billion lawsuit filed by President Trump, who alleges that CBS and its flagship program “60 Minutes” misleadingly edited an interview with Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 election. Meanwhile, Paramount Global, CBS’s parent company, is edging closer to a merger with Skydance Media—a transaction recently approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A veteran of CBS, Roark first joined the company early in her career. After leading newsrooms in several major markets, she returned in 2021 as president of CBS Stations. She later took on the role of president of content development and integration for CBS News, Stations, and Media Ventures in 2023, before assuming her most recent position in August 2024.

One significant moment during Roark’s leadership was the fallout from journalist Tony Dokoupil’s interview with author Ta-Nehisi Coates. 

Dokoupil faced criticism from colleagues after suggesting that parts of Coates’ book, “The Message,” could align with extremist views. CBS News later acknowledged that the interview fell short of its editorial standards. In an internal staff call on October 7, 2024—coinciding with the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ attack on Israel—Roark addressed the controversy, stating, “We will still ask tough questions. We will still hold people accountable. But we will do so objectively, which means checking our biases and opinions at the door.” 

She also apologized for the delay in addressing staff concerns about the interview.

A CBS spokesperson confirmed Roark’s departure to TheWrap but did not indicate who will succeed her as president. News of her exit, which occurred on Wednesday, was first reported by Breaker and subsequently covered by the Status newsletter.

Roark’s abrupt exit appeared to be another stain on the network and, by association, its chief executive, Wendy McMahon.

McMahon’s choice to appoint Roark to oversee the newsroom last August, after Ingrid Ciprián-Matthews left, had puzzled many CBS journalists from the start. A seasoned manager of local TV stations and a former president of CBS stations, Roark lacked the newsroom leadership background typically expected of a major broadcast news head. Nevertheless, McMahon relied on the network’s real editorial anchor, Bill Owens, the executive producer of 60 Minutes, whom she also assigned to supervise Evening News.