The real reason CBS executive was given the boot after scandal-plagued seven months

A top CBS News executive abruptly announced her exit from the company after less than seven months due to a falling out with her CEO, insiders claim.

A source familiar with the matter detailed the situation to Daily Mail Wednesday, after the network’s president of editorial and news gathering, Adrienne Roark, made waves by announcing her ‘resignation.’

The insider said that in weeks before, Roark actually had been shopping for a new job – a development CBS News and Stations CEO Wendy McMahon became aware of, and felt betrayed by.

‘Adrienne was essentially Wendy’s right hand, long before Ingrid [Ciprián-Matthews] was pushed out,’ the source said, referring to the network’s former president – and Roark’s predecessor – who resigned this past August after less than a year.

‘This was Adrienne’s dream job,’ the insider went on, referring to how Roark rose through the ranks after starting her career at a CBS affiliate in Ohio decades ago.

‘Wendy found out that Adrienne was searching for a new job and got pissed,’ they said, as Roark is now set to take on a senior role at less prestigious Tegna – a TV group comprised of 68 local-level stations, fifteen of which are CBS affiliates.

‘They brought back former president Susan [Zirinsky] just to get rid of her,’ the source further revealed, after the network rehired the vet – after her stepping-down in 2021 – as a ‘temporary’ editor last month.  

‘Neither Wendy or Adrienne have the editorial experience of leading a national news organizations,’ they said, as CBS News continues a now-yearslong leadership crisis.

‘This was Adrienne’s dream job,’ the insider went on, referring to how Roark rose through the ranks after starting her career at a CBS affiliate in Ohio decades ago 

‘Roark is mainly local. She was not ready for this job, the intensity of the news cycle – especially at this time,’ they added, as Roark is set to leave CBS by the end of this month.

The comes ahead of an anticipated merger between CBS parent Paramount Global and Skydance Media, which is valued around $8billion.

Notably, Roark was one of several execs including McMahon to reprimand one of her anchors for a fiery interview with pro-Palestinian writer Ta-Nehsi Coates that aired on CBS Mornings in October.

The interview sparked some rare commentary from the billionaire daughter of the late Sumner Redstone and Paramount’s controlling shareholder, who is set to make a pretty penny if the Skydance merger goes through.

Late last month, multiple insiders familiar with the matter revealed the heiress was looking to settle a Donald Trump-filed lawsuit surrounding a supposedly bias 60 Minutes interview as to not jeopardize the deal, which requires governmental approval.

Redstone, in turn, rebuked Roark for her dressing down of the anchor in question, CBS Mornings’ Tony Dokoupil. C-suite staffers were said to have slammed his ‘bias’ when speaking with Coates, and how he tore into his guest’s opinions.

The rest of the sitdown carried a similar tone, and within hours spawned a wartime conference call headed execs like Roark the following Monday.

Also on the call Jan Crawford, CBS News’ chief legal correspondent, and one of the few to express hesitance as to why Dokoupil’s line of questioning had not met Roark’s editorial standards.

‘I appreciate you bringing this up,’ Roark said in response, then just weeks into the position left behind by her predecessor, Ciprián-Matthews. ‘I know this is a lot for everybody to process.’ 

‘Adrienne was essentially Wendy’s right hand, long before Ingrid [Ciprián-Matthews] was pushed out,’ the source said, referring to the network’s former president – and Roark’s predecessor – who resigned this past August after less than a year 

‘Wendy (seen here at an event in Septemer) found out that [Roark} was searching for a new job and got pissed,’ an insider said, as her old deputy is now set to take on a senior role at less prestigious Tegna – a TV group comprised of 68 local-level stations

‘They brought back former president Susan [Zirensky] just to get rid of her,’the source further revealed, after the network rehired Zirinsky (seen here)- after her stepping- down in 2021 – as a ‘temporary’ editor. Zirinsky a veteran producer who rose through the the ranks after joining the CBS News Washington Bureau in 1972.

Ciprián-Matthews, meanwhile, abruptly stepped down in August – a move that itself raised eyebrows due to it coming in the midst of an election.

Moreover, the move was made a month after Skydance said it had identified at least $2billion worth of waste to be cut ahead of a prospective merger, seemingly putting the 30 year vet who started at the network in 1993 on the chopping block

She was investigated in 2021 over favoritism and discriminatory hiring and management practices, three years after becoming CBS’s executive vice president of strategic professional development.

That same year, McMahon left her high-powered post ABC to become the co-president of CBS News and Stations, which had just been reorganizied to contain aspects of both CBS’s local and national news divisions.

The two have since been more aligned – a task Roark herself was responsible for, even before being promoted to president of editorial and newsgathering in August.   

On the call on October 7 – just hours after the Coates interview – Roark told those on the line, ‘After a review of our coverage, including the interview, it’s clear that there are times we have not met our editorial standards.’ 

‘This has been addressed, and it will continue to be in the future,’ she added – forcing Dokoupil to meet for an hour with members of the CBS News standards and practices team, as well as an in-house Race and Culture Unit, the Times reported

Notably, Roark was one of several execs including McMahon to reprimand one of her anchors, Tony Dokoupil for a fiery interview with pro-Palestinian writer Ta-Nehsi Coates that aired on CBS Mornings in October 

The interview sparked some rare commentary from the billionaire daughter of the late Sumner Redstone (left) and Paramount’s controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone (right) who is set to make a pretty penny if an $8billion merger with media company Skydance goes through 

Redstone was amongst those to rebuke Roark for her dressing down of Dokoupil after his interview with Coates, offering a statement afterwards. Seemingly looking to avoid any prospective government pushback, the heiress was part of settlement talks started last month

Dokoupil, who joined CBS News in 2016 before snagging a spot on Mornings three years later, adhered, leading Redstone, a day later, to weigh in.

‘I think we made a mistake,’ said Redstone at an event in New York City that was part of Advertising Week at the time. ‘I think we made a bad mistake this week.’

Within weeks, Trump would win the election, after which he filed the suit that named both Paramount and asset CBS as defendants

The filing surrounds a 60 Minutes interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris that also aired in October, and that included an edit Trump claimed was favorable to Harris’s since settled campaign.

In the excerpt, the candidate was asked a question about the Israeli-Hamas conflict, and gave a lengthy answer – one different than the one that aired on Margaret Brennan’s Face the Nation.

Trump’s team went on to accuse the program of selecting a more coherent quote from Harris to help her candidacy, paving the way for reports from publications like the Times and Status indicating that Redstone is looking to make the lawsuit go away.

Seemingly looking to avoid any prospective government pushback, the heiress was part of settlement talks started as early as late last month, three people with ‘knowledge of the talks’ told the Times. 

Roark’s exit, meanwhile, is as only the latest casualty for CBS, which just weeks ago launched a revamped version of CBS Evening News with two anchors a more magazine-style format, more akin to that of ratings crown jewel 60 Minutes, so far failing to raise ratings

Roark’s exit, meanwhile, is as only the latest casualty for CBS, which just weeks ago launched a revamped version of CBS Evening News with two anchors  a more magazine-style format, more akin to that of ratings crown jewel 60 Minutes.

So far, it has failed to address waning ratings.

CBS CEO McMahon – who declined to name a new executive to lead the national newsgathering division in the wake of Roark’s exit announcement Thursday – is behind that push, and was amongst those to rebuke Dokoupil for his interview.

She assumed the position after for years holding Roark’s role alongside Neeraj Khemlani, after replacing Zirinsky, a veteran producer who rose through the the ranks after joining the CBS News Washington Bureau in 1972.

This too was the case with Roark, who began her career in her native Ohio at WBNS-TV, the CBS affiliate in Columbus, more than 20 years ago.

Despite boasting experience with local station management, she had little experience tried running national TV news programs as Zirinsky, Khemlani, and McMahon had done before.

At Tegna – where she is set to obtain a senior position – a total 22 of the company’s stations are affiliated with NBC,  12 are affiliated with ABC, and six are linked to Fox.