‘CBS Evening News’ No. 2 producer fired after – Business News
The No. 2 producer at “CBS Evening News” has reportedly been fired — an abrupt transfer that comes because the newly relaunched program grapples with on-air gaffes during Tony Dokoupil’s rocky first week on the anchor desk.
The reported exit was first flagged by a Guardian media reporter, who stated three sources indicated Javier Guzman was “dismissed” after Wednesday night’s show, with no clear rationalization supplied and confusion rippling by means of the newsroom during this system’s opening week.
Guzman’s exit unfolded as Dokoupil was within the center of a closely promoted, multi-city rollout for the relaunched “CBS Evening News” — a tour meant to introduce the new anchor to viewers across the nation however already scaled back amid breaking information and inside pressure.
Javier Guzman, the No. 2 producer on CBS Evening News, was reportedly dismissed after a latest broadcast. Javier Guzman / Linkedin
According to his LinkedIn web page, Guzman began his place as senior broadcast producer on the “CBS Evening News” in August.
For almost eight years, he had labored as a producer on the published after first becoming a member of CBS as a supervising producer for the community’s documentary-style sequence “CBSN: On Assignment.”
Guzman’s resume additionally consists of stints at Vice Media in addition to WNYC Radio.
The Post has sought remark from CBS News. Guzman was not instantly out there for remark.
Dokoupil’s debut week on the anchor desk has drawn outsized consideration after a sequence of on-air miscues during the relaunch of the “CBS Evening News,” together with a teleprompter mix-up that left viewers watching a number of seconds of useless air as he brazenly debated which phase to learn subsequent.
The rocky rollout intensified a night time later when Dokoupil turned visibly emotional on air whereas speaking about his childhood in Florida, prompting a wave of criticism from media observers who stated the tearful second blurred the road between personal reflection and straight information supply.
The reported firing occurred during a extremely promoted multi-city tour to tout new anchor Tony Dokoupil’s reboot of the “CBS Evening News.” CBS Evening News
Bari Weiss, CBS News editor in chief, promoted Dokoupil from “CBS Mornings” after failing to lure a marquee anchor from a rival community. Getty Images for Uber, X and The Free Press
Former Fox News and NBC anchor Megyn Kelly was among the many loudest critics, blasting Dokoupil for “sobbing” during the published and saying there was “no crying at ‘Evening News’,” arguing that such emotional shows undermine the authority historically related to the anchor function.
Despite the gaffes and backlash, the debut delivered a short-term rankings raise, with the published drawing about 4.4 million viewers — roughly a 9% increase over the show’s season average — although it nonetheless lagged far behind ABC and NBC, and insiders cautioned that early curiosity-driven bumps typically fade shortly.
Dokoupil’s elevation to the anchor chair was a signature transfer by Bari Weiss, who handpicked him because the public face of her remake of CBS News simply weeks into her tenure as editor in chief.
Weiss promoted Dokoupil from “CBS Mornings” after failing to lure a marquee anchor from a rival community, tying his efficiency on to her imaginative and prescient for shaking up the struggling night broadcast.
Some information: I’ve heard from three sources that CBS News dismissed the #2 producer on the CBS Evening News, Javier Guzman, after the show tonight.Unclear what the rationale was, however led to confusion within the newsroom… and it’s solely week 1 of the show.— Jeremy Barr (@jeremymbarr) January 8, 2026
Dokoupil’s Monday broadcast was marred by confusion over which phase to learn. CBS News
His debut has unfolded in opposition to the backdrop of what a number of reviews have described as a chaotic and contentious begin for Weiss, marked by inside resistance, morale issues and high-profile editorial disputes.
Those included her determination to tug a “60 Minutes” phase on an El Salvador jail shortly earlier than air, prompting protests from veteran journalists and a shelved letter signed by almost 200 former CBS News staffers warning of a disaster of credibility.
Staffers have additionally complained about Weiss’s hands-on management model, last-minute calls for and a expensive, partially scrapped promotional tour constructed round Dokoupil’s launch, all of which intensified scrutiny of the anchor’s early stumbles.
