John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois signed off as co-anchors of the CBS Evening News on Thursday, as the network retools its evening broadcast under new news division editor in chief Bari Weiss.
Dickerson and DuBois announced their departures in recent weeks, as has been expected. They will be succeeded by Tony Dokoupil, co-host of CBS Mornings, who will start on January 5.
“You know, a year and a half ago, we didn’t even know each other, and you have become a model for me and a trusted friend,” Dickerson told his co-anchor last night.
He added, “What viewers don’t know is that long before they could see us, we were thinking about you, the viewers. Planning for months in a conference room, we talked about your attention, how precious it was, and how we would honor it. The question has guided the decisions you saw and many you didn’t: A research team that sweats the facts that shape how you see the world. Correspondents who follow the facts into war zones, into countries where they can be jailed, into powerful exchanges with the powerful who don’t like being held to account, including a president who insulted them for it.”
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The broadcast then played a clip of Donald Trump berating a reporter, “Are you stupid?”
Further clips of stories were then played, with Dickerson noting that they were stories “of wonder, of loss, of courage, asking why until the answers ran out. It’s been an honor to put the work of our correspondents, producers, editors and writers before you, and to work with my partner Maurice, who put his heart into our shared concern. doing right by you. Your expectation has been our responsibility, and our reward.”
“That it has my friend,” DuBois said.
“Thank you for watching,” Dickerson said.
“And good night, and good luck,” DuBois said, borrowing Edward R. Murrow’s famous sign-off.
Dickerson and DuBois had been paired together last year in an overhauled CBS Evening News broadcast, following the exit of Norah O’Donnell from the role. Under the new format, the newscast placed an emphasis on correspondents and their storytelling, with elements of 60 Minutes. But the broadcast has remained in a distant third place to ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir and NBC Nightly News, which had an anchor change earlier this year with Tom Llamas succeeding Lester Holt.
Dickerson and DuBois are each leaving the network. Dickerson joined CBS News in 2009 and has held multiple roles, including moderator of Face the Nation, co-host of CBS This Morning and correspondent for 60 Minutes, as well as host of a show for CBS News’ streaming channel and CBS Evening News+. DuBois had previously anchored on WCBS-TV in New York, having joined the network-owned station in 2004.