CBS News has now reportedly dismissed anchors Michelle Miller and Dana Jacobson following the cancellation of CBS Saturday Morning, marking the latest in a sweeping series of layoffs and programming cuts at the storied network.
According to sources familiar with the decision, most of the show’s production staff were also terminated, underscoring the depth of the changes unfolding inside the CBS News division. The move comes as part of a broader restructuring effort under new Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss and CBS News President Tom Cibrowski.
The shake-up is being driven by CBS’s parent company, Paramount Global, which is undergoing a dramatic overhaul after its recent acquisition by billionaire David Ellison. In a company-wide message to employees on Wednesday, Ellison outlined plans to eliminate more than 2,000 jobs, citing a need to modernize operations and restore profitability amid ongoing industry headwinds.
“This is an enormously difficult day,” Weiss told employees during a morning editorial call, according to multiple people present. The remark reflected the gravity of the situation across the newsroom, where long-tenured staffers and on-air talent were abruptly informed of their dismissals.
The cancellation of CBS Saturday Morning marks the end of a program long viewed as a more measured alternative to its flashier weekend competitors at ABC and NBC. Its anchors, Miller and Jacobson, were known for emphasizing reporting and cultural coverage over the lighter fare common to morning television. Their departures, along with that of the production team, signal that CBS News’s new leadership intends to move in a markedly different direction.
Industry observers see the shake-up as part of Weiss’s broader effort to restore credibility and coherence to a network that has struggled to define its identity in a fractured media environment. Weiss, who built a reputation as a provocative and independent-minded journalist before joining CBS, has called for “re-centering” the network’s reporting around facts and clarity rather than partisanship or spectacle.
The reorganization has extended far beyond weekend programming. CBS Evening News anchor John Dickerson announced that he would leave the network at the end of December, ending a 16-year tenure that spanned roles from political correspondent to debate moderator. CBS also confirmed that streaming editions of both CBS Evening News and CBS Mornings have been discontinued, reflecting the company’s renewed focus on streamlining content and reducing costs.
While CBS executives have framed the layoffs as a difficult but necessary step toward long-term sustainability, the moves have unsettled many within the organization. Staff described a sense of uncertainty about the network’s future and the direction Weiss and Ellison plan to take the flagship news brand.
Ellison, who has pledged to return CBS to “its roots in excellence and integrity,” faces the challenge of balancing fiscal discipline with journalistic ambition. As one former producer put it after the cuts were announced, “CBS News is being rebuilt from the ground up — the question is, what kind of news organization will emerge?”
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