O'Donnell has been with CBS News since 2011
Adam Verdugo/CBS
NEED TO KNOW
- Norah O’Donnell is revealing whether she’s ever been pressured to edit interviews
- The CBS News correspondent spoke about her career in a new interview on The Jamie Kern Lima Show, revealing that while she’s “felt pressure,” she’s never “compromised her integrity”
- O’Donnell’s comments come amid leadership changes and staff departures at CBS
She's interviewed presidents, princes and the pope, and now TV news anchor Norah O'Donnell is opening up about the current pressures of the job.
O'Donnell, a CBS News correspondent and 60 Minutes contributing correspondent, appears on the second episode of The Jamie Kern Lima Show podcast (the first of which dropped Feb. 17), and reveals more about her job at the network.
In a PEOPLE exclusive preview of the episode, releasing Feb. 24, O'Donnell speaks about maintaining journalistic standards and integrity amid an intense period of controversy and change at CBS News.
"I think people think that we give somebody the questions in advance, which would be against standards, and so we never do that," says O'Donnell, 52. "Now, do people try and influence… do the press people call up the producers and say 'Are you gonna ask about this? Are you gonna ask about that?' We say, 'Well, we're gonna ask whatever's in the news that day.'"
When asked by host Jamie Kern Lima if she felt pressure to edit anything after the interview, O'Donnell says she has "not personally ever been in this situation."
She continues, "Have I felt pressure? Sure. But I've ever been in the situation where I had to compromise my integrity. No. And when, and if that happens, I will speak publicly about it."
The journalist reiterates she's never been asked to edit something from a piece. "No. No. Never," says O'Donnell.
"I think there's a, um, a newer feeling out there, or maybe it's a newer fear that the media is being censored now, or edited," says Lima.
O'Donnell explains, "Not in my work. I can't speak for everybody. That's, um. You know, everybody that's doing a taped interview or a live interview or whatever it may be. But for me, I can speak about myself, um, and I have not been pressured to do that."
O'Donnell's appearance on the podcast, which is to promote her new book We the Women: The Hidden Heroes Who Shaped America, follows an period of high-profile exits and leadership changes at CBS.
In October, Bari Weiss was appointed as editor-in-chief of CBS News, which came after Paramount Skydance acquired her news and opinion site, The Free Press. Weiss, 41, remains editor of The Free Press while also overseeing CBS News.
Weiss notably pulled a 60 Minutes segment, titled "Inside CECOT," in December 2025, which focused on Venezuelan men who were deported by the Trump administration to a notorious El Salvador prison. The episode later aired on Jan. 18 after a CBS News spokesperson wrote in an updated release that the story needed additional reporting.
In last week's episode of The Jamie Kern Lima Show, Lima asked O'Donnell about the "microscope" currently on CBS.
"You know, I have worked at CBS now for, oh my goodness, probably almost 14 years and have had a great career," O'Donnell said. "Whether it was covering the White House, anchoring the morning show, anchoring the evening news [or] working for 60 Minutes. We have had a lot of leadership changes at CBS."
She added, "That has been challenging. Not only for me, but I know for my colleagues. And I think with so many leadership changes, people are fearful about what the future means."
Elsewhere in the conversation about CBS, O'Donnell reiterated that she's "very fortunate to work for CBS News and work with the very best producers."
“Sometimes we all take a lot of heat. But I happen to work with some really incredible, incredible people who make our job not only interesting, successful, but also we care deeply about each other," she said.
CBS
Notable staff changes have occurred at CBS in recent months. Last week, Anderson Cooper announced his decision to leave 60 minutes after nearly 20 years as a correspondent.
“Being a correspondent at 60 Minutes has been one of the great honors of my career. I got to tell amazing stories, and work with some of the best producers, editors, and camera crews in the business,” he said in a statement to PEOPLE. "For nearly twenty years, I've been able to balance my jobs at CNN and CBS, but I have little kids now and I want to spend as much time with them as possible, while they still want to spend time with me."
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In April 2025, 60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens announced his departure which came amid Paramount's legal battle with President Donald Trump.
At the time, the president had sued the show over the editing of a 60 Minutes interview with then-Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. Paramount later paid $16 million to settle the lawsuit without an admission of wrongdoing.
On Feb. 23, Peter Attia left CBS News after less than one month as a contributor, following the release of emails he apparently exchanged with Jeffrey Epstein, per The Hollywood Reporter.
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