Claire Day, a senior journalist at CBS News, has been removed from her role as London bureau chief following reported internal disagreements over editorial coverage of the Iran-Gaza conflict, the New York Post reported.
Tom Cibrowski, president of CBS News, wrote the following memo to employees, “Our London Bureau will be moving to a new editorial leadership structure, with the introduction of a foreign editor role overseeing all international coverage.”
Day, who will depart the network on May 1, has been “dedicated to the craft of storytelling,” he continued, adding that “her work made a difference for CBS News.”
Shayndi Raice, a recently hired foreign editor from the Wall Street Journal, will oversee all overseas coverage for CBS News starting on May 11 and will be headquartered out of London, a CBS source told the media outlet.
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Who is Claire Day?
Claire Day has been a prominent figure within CBS News, where she served in leadership roles and oversaw international coverage from London.
She joined CBS News in 2002, and a year ago, she was promoted to the role of Bureau Chief in London, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Day has overseen CBS News’s worldwide coverage of significant political and breaking news events throughout her tenure, such as the October 7 Israel-Gaza conflict. She has also been nominated for an Emmy Award for her coverage of Israel and Gaza conflict.
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Why is Claire Day being removed?
According to the report, Day’s exit came after a clash over the coverage with the editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss. Weiss is a self-proclaimed Zionist and is known for her outspoken opinions on media bias and geopolitics.
The New York Post reported that there have recently been conflicts inside the London Bureau over the coverage of the Middle East. According to a source, Day was accused of operating the London bureau like a “Hamas cell” by a freelance editor and cameraman.
The report said that there were tiffs between Weiss and Day as she was “pushing back” on Weiss’s calls over the coverage. The source told the Post that “Bari barely spoke to her [Claire]” to help resolve that her issues.
Day made it clear that she wanted coverage to be fair and balanced and that there was never any sort of blow-up on daily editorial calls, according to a second CBS insider. According to the New York Post, Day was likewise exonerated of any bias following an internal investigation into possible bias in coverage.
The source said, “It’s really sad. Claire has been the most committed soldier to CBS News for nearly a quarter of a century. For Bari and Tom to discard her because she failed some undefined purity test is appalling.”
Neither Weiss nor CBS News has issued a detailed public statement addressing the specifics of the disagreement.
