Tipsheet

CBS Evening News Producer Penned Tone Deaf Resignation Letter. Here's What It Said.

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  February 13, 2026 1:15 PM

The supposed journalists at CBS have been very unhappy since Bari Weiss became the network's editor-in-chief. Shortly before Christmas, she spiked a story on CECOT, the prison in El Salvador where the Trump administration has been deporting illegal immigrants. Weiss wanted some more journalistic legwork on the piece, which caused open rebellion in the newsroom and made some Democrats cranky.

Now, a producer, Alicia Hastey, has left, and her resignation farewell is incredibly tone-deaf for a network that Dan Rather once called home.

Here's that letter (emphasis added):

It is with sadness that I write to tell you that I am taking a buyout and today was my last day in the Broadcast Center.

I joined the network four years ago with gratitude and optimism and I want to leave you with these thoughts only as a reminder of things I know you already know.

I am proud of the work that’s been done in my time here: segments that aimed to foreground underrepresented perspectives, interviews that challenged conventional wisdom, and efforts to make our journalism more responsive to a skeptical public.

Janet Shamlian and I met a widow paying off her farm debt with wind turbines on her land. Major Garrett and I met voters in Metter, Georgia who disagreed politically but did so with respect and dignity for their small-town neighbors. James Brown and I have spotlighted numerous communities buoyed by love, kindness, and care for humanity.

But, there has been a sweeping new vision prioritizing a break from traditional broadcast norms to embrace what has been described as “heterodox” journalism. The truth is that commitment to those people and the stories they have to tell is increasingly becoming impossible. Stories may instead be evaluated not just on their journalistic merit but on whether they conform to a shifting set of ideological expectations — a dynamic that pressures producers and reporters to self-censor or avoid challenging narratives that might trigger backlash or unfavorable headlines.

None of this detracts from the talent of the journalists who remain at CBS News. You all produce thoughtful and important work, even under difficult circumstances. That is precisely what makes this moment so heartbreaking: the very excellence we seek to sustain is hindered by fear and uncertainty.

Walter Cronkite once said in response to critics: “If that is what makes us liberals, so be it, just as long as in reporting the news we adhere to the first ideals of good journalism — that news reports must be fair, accurate and unbiased.”

Cronkite’s idea is one of the best I’ve encountered. He understood that labels are inevitable, but standards are what matter. What defines journalism is not what critics call it, but whether it remains faithful to those principles.

I’ve always taken comfort in the belief that if we hold fast to those first ideals, trust follows. But those ideals cannot stand on their own. They require vigilance. They require courage.

I know that you all will continue to show that courage — offering news, guidance and respect to the millions who come to us every night. Don’t let anyone diminish the incredible impact you can and do have.

As many pointed out, there are numerous examples of all the times Hastey and other producers chose not to send "bombshell notes."

All of this.

She thinks the work CBS has done, in service of the DNC, is good journalism.

Simply incredible.

Hastey believes balance is being MAGA.

We've all seen it for years.

It really is impressive.

Makes it very clear why CBS Evening News fell to last place.