Our publishing principles at CBS News

Jump to . . .

• Our mission and coverage priorities
• Our masthead
• Our ethics policy
• Our sourcing policy
• Our corrections policy
• How to give actionable feedback

Mission and coverage priorities

At CBS News and Stations, we are dedicated to providing the highest quality journalism under standards we pioneered and continue to set today.

Our mission is to empower Americans across all ages and demographics to understand the stories and issues that shape the world around us. And we want to meet you where you're looking for those stories, whether it's on network TV, streaming platforms, CBSNews.com, social media, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Our website aims to reflect the breadth and depth of CBS News and Stations reporting, bringing you daily stories of national, global and local significance. You can count on us for reliable, real-time updates on breaking news, as well as context around what that news will mean for you. CBSNews.com also seeks to extend and amplify in-depth reporting and interviews across CBS News and Stations, bringing you extended sit-downs with newsmakers, investigative deep dives and data-driven journalism.

Politics is a sizable aspect of our daily coverage. We will always seek to hold your elected officials accountable through fair, unbiased and fact-based reporting. We'll also help you make sense of elections, Supreme Court decisions and other significant developments through our thorough explainers about key political issues and outcomes.

MoneyWatch, our personal finance section, aims to deliver business news and explainers through the lens of Main Street, not Wall Street. We want to help you understand how economic issues will impact your wallet, your investments and your retirement accounts. 

CBS News is home to "CBS Mornings," "CBS Evening News," "60 Minutes," "48 Hours," "CBS Saturday Morning," "CBS Sunday Morning" and "Face the Nation." CBS News Streaming, our 24/7 digital news network, can be found across connected TV platforms and features all CBS News network programming, as well as streaming-only shows, including "Primetime with John Dickerson," "America Decides," "CBS Reports," and "Person to Person with Norah O'Donnell."

CBS's local stations span the U.S., with owned and operated stations in Baltimore, Bay Area, Boston, Chicago, Colorado, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, Minnesota, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Sacramento and Texas. 

Reporting from all of these shows and stations can be found on CBSNews.com and the CBS News mobile app, where we have even more web-only live blogs, stories and videos about the topics that matter most to you.

Masthead

• Wendy McMahon: President and Chief Executive Officer, CBS News and Stations and CBS Media Ventures
• Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews: President of CBS News
• Brian Applegate: Executive Producer, CBS Saturday Morning
• Anthony Galloway: Senior Vice President, CBS News Streaming
• Christina Capatides: Vice President of Social Media and Trending Content
• Paula Cohen: Senior Managing Editor, CBSNews.com
• Mary Hager: Executive Producer, Face the Nation, Executive Editor for Politics
• Mark Lima: Vice President, Washington Bureau Chief
• Claudia Milne: Senior Vice President, Standards and Practices
• Rand Morrison: Executive Producer, CBS Sunday Morning
• Bill Owens: Executive Producer, 60 Minutes
• Alvin Patrick: Executive Producer, CBS News Streaming Originals and Race and Culture
• David Reiter: Executive Producer, Special Events
• Jamie Reysen: Senior Vice President, CBSNews.com and Streaming Growth and Engagement
• Shawna Thomas: Executive Producer, CBS Mornings
• Judy Tygard: Executive Producer, 48 Hours
• Adam Verdugo: Executive Producer, CBS Evening News

Ethics policy

Bribes, gifts and freebies

At CBS News and Stations, employees don't accept, ask for or offer bribes or payments to obtain interviews or information. We also don't solicit, accept or agree to accept anything else that's offered for the purpose of influencing what we report.

Conflicts of interest

Conflicts of interest exist when someone could profit personally or otherwise benefit from a decision they make on behalf of the company -- and those conflicts come in many forms. Anyone at CBS News and Stations who has a significant financial stake in a company, for example, must inform senior management and cannot be involved in reporting or editing stories about that company or its competitors. Someone who has a personal relationship with the subject of a story must disclose it to senior management – and get their approval – before working on that report. Our journalists should not cover or be involved in coverage of government agencies, universities or other institutions at which their spouses or partners are employed – except on rare occasions when that connection adds important context and is disclosed and evaluated.

It comes down to this: A conflict of interest exists when a CBS News and Stations employee is in a position to make a business or news decision that might appear to result in some personal gain or advantage to them, their family or close friends, unless that connection is disclosed and evaluated.

One particular type of relationship that could be viewed as a conflict of interest is fully and transparently revealed in our reports: our connection to Paramount Global. The parent company of CBS News and Stations, Paramount Global, is a worldwide media and entertainment conglomerate, and it is not unusual for significant projects and events within the company to make news. When reporting on them, we acknowledge the connection between CBS News and Stations and our parent company.

Sourcing policy

Single sourcing

There are occasions when we report based on a single source, but only after careful consideration and discussion with senior leadership. If we publish a single-sourced report, we aim to deliver as clear a representation of the source's credentials as possible.

Anonymous sources and confidentiality 

When someone who has important information fears personal harm or reprisal if their identity is revealed, confidentiality may be warranted. 

Sometimes, agreeing to protect a source's identity means we will not identify them in a news report. Sometimes it means we will keep their identity confidential even beyond the report. Before agreeing to this protection, reporters, correspondents and producers will disclose the identity of the source and the circumstances of any offer of confidentiality to one or more members of newsroom leadership.

If we agree to this protection, we will work with the source to agree on how they will be acknowledged in our reporting, if at all (for example, "a source close to the investigation"). We will also characterize the reason we are not identifying them so that the viewer or listener can evaluate how much weight to give the information.

Corrections policy

When mistakes happen, CBS News and Stations correct the record. How corrections are handled will vary depending on the nature of the error, and where and when it appeared.

When we say "mistake," we're not referring to minor spelling or grammatical errors that do not change the nature of a report. We are referring to mistakes about the "who, what, when, where and why" of stories.

Once it's been determined that we made a mistake and know what the correct information is, we are transparent about the error. Newsroom leadership will decide where the correction or clarification is made and will approve the language. 

Errors made in broadcasts are corrected promptly by removing the erroneous material from the broadcast if it is repeated or as embedded online. If appropriate, an on-air acknowledgment of the error will be made.

When a mistake is made in a CBSNews.com story, the article copy is updated, and an editor's note is added to the bottom of the article to explain the mistake and to provide correct information.

Mistakes made on social media are considered equally important, and we work with our leadership team to correct those quickly in the format that makes the most sense for each platform. 

Actionable feedback

If you have questions, concerns or feedback about our coverage, please fill out this form.