CBS News and Stations is naming Adrienne Roark the president of editorial and newsgathering as part of a larger organizational shift for the company. Under this same restructure, Jennifer Mitchell has been named president of stations and digital.
“Today marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter as we write the future of CBS News and Stations. Our journalists and team members across the division are working together more collaboratively and efficiently to drive impact across all of our shows and streams,” Wendy McMahon, president and CEO of CBS News and Stations and CBS Media Ventures, said in a statement to press. “I have great confidence in the team we are assembling, beginning with Adrienne and Jennifer, who are terrific partners and inspirational, aspirational and empathetic leaders. This structure is designed to support and build our next-generation news organization. By working with our talented teams in every newsroom, each of these leaders will enhance our coverage and better position us for the future.”
Roark will take over the editorial leadership responsibilities that were previously held by Ingrid Ciprián-Matthews. For her part, Ciprián-Matthews transitioned to a new role as CBS News’ senior editorial adviser last week. She will help lead political coverage through the November election and will continue to report to McMahon.
As president of editorial and newsgathering, Roark will lead the organization’s teams in the field and across newsrooms, including overseeing correspondents, assignment desks, bureaus, booking teams, standards and practices, the Super Desk central newsgathering and storytelling platform as well as CBS News Radio. She will also continue to lead the CBS Local News Innovation Lab in Dallas-Fort Worth; WCBS and WLNY in New York; and WBZ and WSBK in Boston.
Roark began her career at CBS. After managing newsrooms in major markets, she returned in 2021 to become president of CBS Stations. She was then named president of content development and integration for CBS News, Stations and Media Ventures in 2023.
As for Mitchell, she will primarily oversee 23 of the 27 CBS-owned stations as well as the division’s local and national digital properties. For Mitchell, this is an expansion of seven stations that were previously overseen by Roark (KYW and WPSG in Philadelphia; KDKA and WPKD in Pittsburgh; WFOR and WBFS in Miami; and WJZ in Baltimore).
Mitchell was instrumental in developing CBS NEWS 24/7, the flagship show for CBS News’ national stream. She was also vital in growing CBS Stations’ local streams and has helped CBS Stations grow the number of local news hours produced each year by more than 9,000.
Both Roark and Mitchell will continue to report to McMahon and will share responsibility for overseeing content for the division’s local and national streaming channels. McMahon will continue to oversee all CBS News network broadcasts.
Roark and Mitchell aren’t the only ones impacted by this restructuring. Alvin Patrick will expand his role from executive producer of the CBS News Race and Culture Unit to also overseeing long-form programming for CBS News digital and streaming properties. This will include content that will appear on CBS News 24/7 and Paramount+ and will include specials and documentaries. He will report to McMahon.
Day-to-day editorial newsgathering across CBS News and Stations will be led by longtime CBS News executive Terri Stewart and Wendy Fisher. Stewart has been named senior vice president of newsgathering and will focus on guiding the network’s newsgathering efforts while running news hubs to support the new community journalism coverage. Stewart will also be responsible for the development of a CBS News and Stations coverage desk. Fisher has been named senior vice president of editorial. As such, she will focus on comprehensive coverage for the groups working with Washington, foreign and domestic bureaus, and she will also continue to oversee weather coverage for CBS News and Stations. Both Stewart and Fisher will report to Roark.
Finally, David Reiter has been named senior vice president of CBS News 24/7, special events and special projects. As such, he will continue to oversee all special events and projects for CBS News, which includes Election Night, and he will lead the division’s streaming initiatives. Reiter will report to Roark.
