Scott MacFarlane, a hard-working CBS News correspondent who has been tasked with covering the courts and other matters out of Washington, D.C. is leaving the Paramount Skydance unit in an exit that was announced Monday and surprised may of his colleagues, according to a person familiar with the matter.
MacFarlane posted a note of his own via LinkedIn. “This is my decision, and I appreciate the bosses at CBS for understanding it,” he said. “I will always value the opportunity I had to work alongside the talented and committed professionals here. I’m proud to have had the words ‘CBS correspondent’ next to my name — always will be. For the next phase of my career, I look forward to some independence and finding new spaces to share my work in line with my personal goals.”
He joined CBS News in 2021, and was seen as a member of a new generation of staffers who were at home doing reports for TV and also releasing information about his beats via social media.
MacFarlane was on-site at the assassination attempt of Trump in Butler, Penn. in July 2024. MacFarlane reported the first accounts of the shooting scene and emergency responses for CBS News in the moments after the shots were fired. He also chronicled the largest criminal prosecution in US history, covering the 1,600 federal cases brought from the Jan. 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol siege.
He leaves as CBS News is being shaken up by a new editor in chief, Bari Weiss, who has been installed by Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison in a bid to overhaul what the news division does. Ellison has articulated a vision of reaching people across the nation who are more centrist in their views, and less extreme, but Weiss’ moves, which have involved giving more air time to Trump administration officials and bemoaning a lack of trust in mainstream media, have not gone unnoticed.
Before arriving at CBS News, MacFarlane served for eight years as an investigative reporter for WRC-TV, the NBC affiliate in Washington, D.C., where he also served as a Washington Bureau contributor to NBC Newschannel, the affiliate news service.
MacFarlane was previously a Congressional Correspondent for the Cox Media Group and its affiliate television and radio stations.
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