John Dickerson Named CBS News Political Director

By Chris Ariens 

Ahead of last night’s GOP debate on CBS, News president David Rhodes sent a note to staff, naming John Dickerson CBS News’s Political Director overseeing the editorial strategy of the 2012 campaign. Dickerson has been with CBS News since 2009 as an analyst and contributor. He’ll continue writing for Slate.

Dickerson’s mother Nancy was CBS News’s first female correspondent in 1960. In a 2009 profile, Dickerson told TVNewser, “I grew up hearing about CBS. When Mom started, she worked with Ed Murrow and Eric Sevareid and Don Hewitt. She revered them. That was the sort of water I grew up in.”

Rhodes also notes that Scott Conroy of Real Clear Politics is joining as a campaign contributor.

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Rhodes’ note after the jump…

—– Original Message —–
From: Rhodes, David
To: @CND News
Sent: Sat Nov 12 17:13:54 2011
Subject: Politics

We’ve assembled a great team here in Spartanburg for tonight’s Republican debate on CBS—the first on broadcast television this season. On this occasion, some announcements:

John Dickerson will be CBS News Political Director, overseeing the editorial strategy and direction of our effort through the 2012 campaign. John has been well known to all of us at CBS News for his work as Political Analyst and Contributor; with this appointment he’ll be taking on a larger role working with the political team led by Chief Washington Correspondent Bob Schieffer, Chief Political Correspondent Jan Crawford, Chief White House Correspondent Norah O’Donnell, and Congressional Correspondent Nancy Cordes. John will work closely with VP and DC bureau chief Chris Isham.

John rounds out an off-air staff including Senior Producer Caroline Horn, Producer Bonney Kapp on the road with Jan, and our strong teams at the White House and on Capitol Hill. He’ll help drive our planning and ongoing storytelling around politics. With Caroline, Jan, Bonney, and Steve Splane, he will manage our communication with all the 2012 campaigns. John continues to make a contribution to Slate, which will help promote his efforts back at CBS News.

John has worked for a variety of other publications including most notably Time. He’s also the author of “On Her Trail,” a book about his mother the late Nancy Dickerson—CBS News’s first female correspondent in 1960. Perhaps not surprisingly John is a Washington native.

Separately I want to note another contributor on politics for 2012, Scott Conroy of Real Clear Politics. Scott reported in 2008 as an off-air for CBS News on the Romney and Palin buses.

You may know that Scott is back with us as a contributor for 2012, adding to the editorial flow we continue to see from the CBS-National Journal partnership in the field and everyday in the Washington bureau. Welcome back, Scott.

David Rhodes
President, CBS News

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