John Dickerson Was With CBS for 16 Years Before Announcing He’s Leaving — Why Did He Resign?

After spending 16 years at CBS in various roles, John Dickerson made the difficult decision to leave the network. He announced the news via Instagram on Oct. 27, 2025, writing, “At the end of this year, I will leave CBS, 16 years after I sat in as Face the Nation anchor for the first time. I am extremely grateful for all that CBS gave me — the work, the audience’s attention, and the honor of being a part of the network’s history."

He added, "I am grateful for my dear colleagues who’ve made me a better journalist and a better human. I will miss you.”

This means John will officially depart CBS at the end of 2025, leaving his chief political analyst and senior national correspondent positions up for grabs. But the question remains: Why is John stepping away after all this time?

John Dickerson didn’t give an exact reason for why he’s leaving CBS after 16 years, but many believe it has something to do with the recent change in ownership and how it might impact his and others’ ability to remain independent journalists and commentators.

If you recall, Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS (as well as Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon, and Paramount+), was purchased in August 2025 by Skydance Media, with David Ellison now holding the reins as chairman and CEO. David is the son of billionaire Larry Ellison, the co-founder of Oracle Corp. Larry is not only a supporter of the Republican Party but, according to The New York Times, also a friend of President Donald Trump.

With Larry’s son now overseeing CBS operations, many are concerned about what direction he might take the company in. That concern stems partly from Shari Redstone, who previously owned Paramount, settling a lawsuit with the Trump administration over a 60 Minutes interview with former presidential candidate Kamala Harris, per The Guardian.

On top of that, Bari Weiss has been named CBS’s new editor-in-chief, and there’s talk of filling a key anchor role with Bret Baier, a well-known anchor from the right-wing network Fox News.

So it’s pretty clear that changes are likely coming to CBS News. And while John hasn’t directly said why he’s leaving, it’s possible he wants to step away before CBS shifts from being widely recognized as a left-leaning network to one that leans to the right, which, based on everything that’s happened so far, is where the network seems to be headed.

While many are sad to see him go, especially since he’s worn many hats over the years, including serving as a 60 Minutes correspondent for two years, co-anchor of CBS This Morning for over a year, and moderator of Face the Nation for nearly three years, a lot of viewers are reassuring him that they’ll be following wherever he goes next.

Some are even applauding his decision to leave, with a few now dubbing CBS as “Fox News 2.” Still, many are calling John a “class act” and believe that wherever he ends up, he’ll be an asset there too.