2005: At CBS, Fixing ‘News’

For the rest of this year’s news about CBS News, check the CBS category.

> Dec. 26: Lara Logan is “absolutely fearless”

> Dec. 20: CBS is restructuring the political unit; Dotty Lynch is leaving

> Dec. 13: The CBS Evening News enjoys ratings gains; Bob Schieffer says CBS has been “standing still” for 5 years, but that’s changing

> Dec. 6: Report: If Katie Couric comes to CBS, she will contribute to 60 Minutes

> Dec. 1: The LAT says Sean McManus is “doggedly courting” Couric and she is “seriously considering” a move to CBS

> Nov. 29: CBS announces that Rome Hartman will become EP of the CBS Evening News; Jim Murphy is in talks about a new assignment

> Nov. 28: Les Moonves is wooing Couric “with a new urgency;” Later, any announcement is “a little bit down the road”

> Nov. 23: Logan is a rising star at CBS

> Nov. 15: CBS senior VP Marcy McGinnis “steps aside”

> Nov. 10: Dan Rather returns to 60 Minutes

> Nov. 8: Mary Mapes begins her book tour. “I don’t think I committed bad journalism,” she says

> Oct. 27: It’s talent shopping time for McManus

> Oct. 26: McManus takes the helm of CBS. “We can build upon its legacy and become even more successful,” he says

> Oct. 26: Andrew Heyward is leaving CBS News; he says goodbye to colleagues, but says he isn’t leaving the media business

> Oct. 19: 60 Minutes experiments with a limited commercial, single sponsorship broadcast

> Oct. 1: Heyward says “the notion of objectivity in mainstream news needs to be reexamined”

> Sept. 27: “Twenty-two minutes on the Evening News is very unappealing,” Couric says

> Sept. 22: “Changing of the guard” at 60 Minutes

> Aug. 17: Interns help CBS reinvent the Evening News

> July 12: CBS announces a “broadband news network” in the form of CBSNews.com; It’s a philosophical shift for CBS News; Also, a preview of Public Eye

> June 23: “The web is going to be our cable news network,” CBS Digital prez Larry Kramer says

> May 26: About 50 staffers of 60 Minutes Wednesday lose their jobs

> May 23: The Viacom entertainment division offers Evening News input

> Ma
y 18: Moonves confirms that he had a “conversation” with Couric about the CBS anchor chair

> May 18: Tarred by Memogate, 60 Minutes Wednesday is cancelled

> Apr. 26: Heyward says Schieffer will be anchoring “for the foreseeable future”

> Apr. 21: Schieffer loosens up the Evening News, emphasizes the correspondents, and Moonves likes what he sees

> Mar 22: Josh Howard leaves CBS; Also, Mapes signs a book deal

> Mar. 10: Schieffer takes the helm, calling it a “daunting” honor

> Mar. 9: Dan Rather signs off the CBS Evening News with “courage;” For Viacom, an opportunity to remake the broadcast

> Feb. 25: Memogaters Mary Murphy and Betsy West leave CBS News

> Feb. 1: “Schieffer…will serve as the interim anchor of the CBS Evening News for a short transition period”

> Jan. 21: One of the first big mentions of correspondent Lara Logan

> Jan. 18: The AP says “CBS will probably replace Dan Rather on the evening news with a multi-anchor, perhaps multi-city format”

> Jan. 12: Moonves: “We’re looking to do things differently”

> Jan. 11: Moonves is “not even close” to choosing Dan Rather’s replacement; Bob Schieffer’s name is floated for the interim

> Jan. 10: CBS News releases an independent panel’s Memogate report; Betsy West, Josh Howard, Mary Murphy, and Mary Mapes are asked to resign; Heyward stays; the panel does not conclude whether the documents were authentic

> Jan 3.: Heyward meets with the White House to “repair chilly relations with the Bush administration”