Hello Captain Obvious
/
CBS News President David Rhodes told the staff that the 'Evening News' Anchor transition didn't go very smoothly and it hurt morale.
He also told them the sky was blue and water was wet.
Rhodes held a town hall meeting with the CBS staff and admitted that the bouncing of Anchor Scott Pelley did not work out as he had hoped.
Rhodes was asked, if he thinks the rocky transition has hurt company morale.
"I absolutely do. And I'm concerned about it," he said, according to someone who viewed the event. "Transitions are difficult. We've had some very smooth ones while I've been here, and this one wasn't one of the smoothest. And I'm concerned about that. It didn't go the way that I wanted it to go."
Rhodes was interviewed by CBS This Morning anchor Norah O'Donnell, who passed along employee questions. One employee asked: "What was the strategy behind getting rid of one anchor without having a plan in place?"
Rhodes, according to the individual who watched the event, replied, "Well, first, I wouldn't say that we don't have a plan in place. … If we had no plan, we'd have no broadcast tonight, and we do have a broadcast tonight, and each night."
Rhodes said he has no one in mind right now for the role but said: "I think we will find the right team of people to put this on. And I think largely that team is going to be drawn from the people who are putting it on today, because they're doing a very good job."
Later, he said of a prospective anchor, "I want someone who can really carry the best values of the kind of reporting that we're trying to do here every night."
O'Donnell passed along a question about CBS picking a woman to anchor the broadcast, thereby making her the third solo female anchor.
In response, Rhodes said: "Should it be a woman? Could we benefit from having a person of color leading it? We wouldn't be the only ones doing that right now. But that might be important as well. But that's not going to lead the decision about what we do."
In other words, we're are more then likely going to hire an old white guy again.
Stay tuned....
