Anderson Cooper will leave the CBS News programme 60 Minutes after nearly two decades in the latest staffing shake-up to hit the storied news programme amid broader newsroom changes under the new editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss.
“Being a correspondent at 60 Minutes has been one of the great honours of my career. I got to tell amazing stories, and work with some of the best producers, editors and camera crews in the business,” Cooper said in a statement.
“For nearly 20 years, I’ve been able to balance my jobs at CNN and CBS, but I have little kids now and I want to spend as much time with them as possible, while they still want to spend time with me.”
The editorial independence of CBS News, and its flagship investigative show 60 Minutes, has been in doubt since the network’s new owner, David Ellison, installed Weiss, an opinion writer and editor with no prior experience in broadcast television.
In December, Weiss ordered 60 Minutes to hold a report on the Cecot prison in El Salvador, where the Trump administration had sent immigrants from Venezuela to be jailed without due process, arguing that it lacked the perspective of the Trump administration, which had declined requests for comment.
Cooper, who hosts his own show on CNN, has also been a 60 Minutes correspondent for CBS through a deal between the two networks since the 2006-2007 season.
His recent work for the programme has included reports on so-called Covid-19 long-haulers and a wreck found near Mobile, Alabama, that is believed to be the last slave ship to have landed in the US.
Cooper joined CNN in 2001 and has reported on the Iraq War, Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Lachlan Cartwright’s Breaker newsletter first reported Cooper’s impending departure from 60 Minutes.
Commenting on Cooper’s exit, CBS News said: “We’re grateful to him for dedicating so much of his life to this broadcast, and understand the importance of spending more time with family.”
Weiss unveiled a new strategy in January, saying she would add 19 new contributors and focus on bringing a “streaming mentality” to the network, which has consistently trailed in ratings to rivals ABC and NBC.
She is trying to revive the third-placed broadcast news network, which has been losing viewers in the age of social media and online information.
Weiss had expressed interest in bringing Cooper to CBS News on a full-time basis, including the possibility of him anchoring the CBS Evening News program, according to a Puck news report.
Since the launch of CNN’s prime-time television news programme Anderson Cooper 360, Cooper has covered major global news events, ranging from US presidential inaugurations and political conventions to the Newtown, Connecticut, school shooting. – Guardian and agencies