Why Is Rita Braver Leaving ‘CBS News Sunday Morning’?
Veteran journalist Rita Braver is set to walk off into the sunset this Sunday (March 30) as she will retire from CBS News Sunday Morning after more than 50 years at the network.
Braver, who will celebrate her 77th birthday on April 12, first joined CBS News as a news desk editor in 1972 before serving as the network’s chief law correspondent from 1983 to 1993. In 1998, she joined Sunday Morning as chief national correspondent, a role she’s continued in for over 27 years.
Her retirement was announced by Sunday Morning executive Rand Morrison in a memo to staffers on Wednesday (March 26), per Deadline.
“It’s time to share some news that most of us already know but are reluctant to accept. Our beloved, longtime Sunday Morning colleague… national correspondent Rita Braver will retire at the end of this month,” Morrison wrote.
“Those who know Rita and Sunday Morning realize how essential she’s been to our work,” he continued. Not simply because of her excellent reporting, her keen sense of curiosity about all kinds of things, and her willingness to take on almost any assignment – however demanding or complex the subject – but also because Rita has always brought professionalism, clarity, and a passion for quality to every story that’s come her way.”
Morrison added, “To call it this end of an era barely does justice to the challenges we’ll face now that we can no longer pick up the phone and call on Rita.”
Before joining CBS News, Braver graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in political science and spent several years at WWL-TV in New Orleans. She has been married to attorney Robert Barnett since 1972, after the pair met at college. They have a daughter, Meredith, and three grandchildren.
During her time at CBS News, the highly respected investigative journalist broke several major stories, including the spy rings of John Walker and Jonathan Pollard. She also led the network’s coverage of the Iran-Contra affair and served as CBS’ chief White House correspondent during former President Bill Clinton‘s first term in office.
She also appeared on programs such as 48 Hours, Street Stories, Public Eye with Bryant Gumbel, Face the Nation, and contributed “Eye on America” segments for CBS Evening News.
Braver celebrated 50 years at CBS News back in 2022, reflecting in a Sunday Morning segment, “Over the years, I got to cover some of the biggest events of my lifetime, starting – when I was just an apprentice on the news desk – with Watergate.”
She continued, “That first day was really the beginning of my 50-year love-affair with CBS News. Like my marriage, which started about the same time, it’s had its highs and lows, some exasperating moments, and some too magical to ever forget. Yet, I count myself lucky, after all these years, to have the kind of job I always dreamed about.”
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