It’s the end of an era in American radio as CBS News Radio signs off on Friday following a near century of broadcasting — and the union that has long represented its journalists isn’t going quietly.
CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss and president Tom Cibrowski announced in March that the onetime home Edward R. Murrow, Dan Rather and Robert Trout would be closing its doors due to “a shift in radio station programming strategies, coupled with challenging economic realities.”
That isn’t sitting well with the Writers Guild of America East, which bargains on behalf of 26 of its news writers, desk associates and assignment editors. The union has represented CBS News employees since 1954.
“David Ellison and Bari Weiss broke its trust with its employees and its audience in a single reckless and shortsighted decision,” the union said in a statement on Friday. “This closure erodes a vital news source for listeners of more than 700-affiliated stations across the country and 26 WGAE members with decades of experience and dedication to journalism will be out of work.”
The restructuring of CBS News arrived after Skydance Media closed a merger with Paramount Global, which owns the division, in the summer of 2025. New Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison picked Weiss, the former New York Times opinion writer who later launched The Free Press, to helm CBS News.
