CBS News veteran Al Ortiz, who has recently spent time as interim executive producer of “CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell,” announced his plans to retire this summer, per Deadline.
“I’m immensely proud of what we’ve accomplished on the broadcast over the past year. I’m proud of the awards we’ve won under Norah’s leadership, proud of the steady progress in the ratings and demos,” Ortiz said.
Ortiz took over the role at the evening newscast following the departure of Jay Shaylor last year. Overall, Ortiz has been with the news division for over four decades and has been the executive producer of the evening news broadcast on two occasions.
CBS News plans to begin its search for Ortiz’s successor. Also, Norah O’Donnell, who recently upped her deal with the network, stated that Ortiz is “universally admired, respected, and loved, a true gentleman in every sense of the word who cares so deeply about journalism but cares about the people who work not only on our show, the Evening News, but everybody at CBS.”
In his 43 years with CBS News, Ortiz has held other positions with the company, serving as vice president of standards and practices, foreign editor, London bureau chief, and Washington bureau chief.
“When you ultimately retire this summer, you’ll still be on the top of your game. The job is the penultimate of the industry. You’ve accomplished it all, and CBS News is forever in your debt,” Neeraj Khemlani, co-head of CBS News and Stations, said.
Eduardo Razo is the Assistant Content Editor for BNM, which includes writing daily news stories on the news media industry. He can be found on Twitter @eddierazo_ or you can reach him by email at eddie1991razo@gmail.com.
