As CBS News executives decide who will replace Scott Pelley as anchor of the CBS Evening News, one group has created a change.org petition advocating that a woman succeed him.
The Women’s Media Center, which describes itself as a progressive organization dedicated to making women more “visible and powerful in the media,” was founded in 2005 by activists such as Jane Fonda and Gloria Steinem.
As of this writing, the petition has garnered more than 900 supporters. “For most of television history,” says the accompanying text, “the anchors of the weekday evening network newscasts – ABC, CBS, NBC – have been men. In fact, only two women, Katie Couric and Diane Sawyer, have ever been solo anchors… It’s 2017, long past time to have at least one woman anchoring the weekday evening network news.”
The Women’s Media Center says a number of on-air women are qualified for the job – including CBS’s Gayle King, Norah O’Donnell, and Elaine Quijano; CNN’s Dana Bash and Christiane Amanpour; NBC’s Andrea Mitchell and Kelly O’Donnell; ABC’s Robin Roberts and Cecilia Vega; and former CNN’er Soledad O’Brien – and is tweeting about its campaign using the hashtag #HireHer.