Why Did Norah O'Donnell Leave 'CBS Evening News'? She's Taking on a New Role

We've all become used to seeing Norah O'Donnell on our screens. She's been in TV news since she was a college student at Georgetown University, when she interned for ABC News during her senior year, though she got into print journalism for a while before joining NBC in the late '90s. She spent more than a decade with the network before switching over to CBS in 2011.

Along the way in her remarkable career, she's covered multiple presidential elections, interviewed the Pope, and was even the first American journalist to travel to the Red Sea amid tensions in the Middle East.

Most recently, you've seen her anchoring CBS Evening News, a role she took over from John Glor in 2019. But in late July 2024, Norah announced that she was leaving the anchor desk. So what's going on?

Norah said she's planning on exiting after the 2024 presidential election. She's going to stay with the network but in a different capacity, this time in a role that would allow for "more of the storytelling and big interviews that are a hallmark of CBS News, as well as Norah's illustrious career," said Wendy McMahon, president and CEO of CBS News & Stations and CBS Media Ventures.

"It's time to do something different," Norah said, per the network. She thanked her team for the incredible work they've done, and said she was grateful to have worked with "best journalists and people in the business."

Meanwhile, you'll be able to still find Norah reporting across CBS and Paramount Plus, where she'll "have the real estate and flexibility to leverage big bookings on numerous platforms, including primetime specials, 60 Minutes, CBS News Sunday Morning, and more," Wendy added.

Before taking over the anchor desk for CBS Evening News, Norah spent almost seven years at CBS This Morning, beginning in 2012.

"The best is yet to come," she said during her farewell broadcast.