“CBS Evening News” co-anchor John Dickerson will exit the network at the end of the year, marking the first high-profile talent departure since Bari Weiss took over as editor-in-chief of CBS News.

Weiss was tapped last month to overhaul CBS News by Paramount’s new owner David Ellison, and there has been much speculation about how she would put her stamp on the network. “CBS Evening News,” which has struggled in third place behind rivals on ABC and NBC since Dickerson and Maurice DuBois began co-anchoring earlier this year, will mark the first program to get retooled under Weiss. 

“At the end of this year, I will leave CBS, sixteen 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— and I am grateful for my dear colleagues who’ve made me a better journalist and a better human. I will miss you,” Dickerson wrote on social media when announcing his exit. 

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John Dickerson, co-anchor of “CBS Evening News,” will leave CBS News at year’s end. (CBS News)

Dickerson’s planned departure will be another change for “CBS Evening News,” which saw Dickerson and DuBois replace Norah O’Donnell in January. The future of the program is unclear, but CBS News President Tom Cobrowski said Dickerson will be honored on the way out. 

“After 16 years at CBS News and contributing to every program here, John Dickerson has decided to step away at the end of the year. John epitomizes the very best of journalism. He will co-anchor the CBS Evening News until the holidays, when he will say farewell. Until then, we’ll have plenty of time to thank him for his work here and honor his contributions to our success,” Cobrowski said in a statement. 

Dickerson has been a contributor to “60 Minutes,” anchored “Face the Nation,” co-anchored “CBS This Morning,” moderated CBS News’ two presidential primary debates and has interviewed President Donald Trump nearly 20 times. 

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New Paramount CEO David Ellison recently named Bari Weiss the editor-in-chief of CBS News. (Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images; James Leynse/Corbis via Getty Images; Noam Galai/Getty Images for The Free Press)

Weiss’ hire was met with both internal and external criticism — with some citing her opinion background and lack of television experience — but a CBS News insider recently said employees worrying about Weiss inside the newsroom come from two distinct camps. 

“Really young people who, frankly, might be [more] progressive than they should be, and the really old people who feel protective of a brand that no longer exists anyway,” the insider told Fox News Digital of colleagues who are “aghast” Weiss was hand-picked by Ellison to lead the news division. 

The insider said the older staffers who long for Walter Cronkite’s CBS News “don’t know how to grow with the times,” and some younger colleagues object to Weiss being so passionately pro-Israel and anti-“woke.”  

“Everyone in between was like, ‘Yeah, let’s try something new,’” the insider said. 

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CBS anchors Maurice DuBois and John Dickerson. (Screenshot/CBS News)

The insider also said a large majority of the newsroom is open-minded and well aware that Weiss “launched a hyper-successful media company” and clearly has a “good pulse” on the American zeitgeist. 

“We probably needed a course correction, and an unwillingness to acknowledge that would lead to perpetual third place,” the CBS News insider said. 

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Dickerson was critical of Paramount’s multi-million dollar settlement with Trump earlier this year, and he used his CBS News platform to suggest it could hinder the press’ ability to “hold power to account.”