Former CBS News justice correspondent Scott MacFarlane has joined MeidasTouch as an anchor and its chief Washington correspondent, nine days after his departure from the Bari Weiss-led newsroom.
MacFarlane said in a video on X that his appointment was effective immediately, and that he would begin hosting his own show, “Scott MacFarlane Reports,” in the coming weeks. His work will also air across MeidasTouch’s network of shows.
The journalist said he and the progressive media company share the same “North star” of getting “straight to the point” and reporting the news without “the useless bells and whistles” of TV production.
“This is such a critical moment, it’s important we underscore how significant this moment is, this moment of unique political toxicity and unique political danger,” he said. “MeidasTouch and I have long shared this same philosophy: You don’t platform lies, you don’t platform conspiracy theories and you don’t allow for the whitewashing of history.”
MacFarlane said earlier this month he would leave CBS News after roughly five years, eager for “some independence and finding new spaces to share my work in line with my personal goals,” as noted in a memo to his colleagues. He initially covered Congress before he moved to covering the Justice Department, where his work often focused on the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, including the more than 1,600 federal cases brought in the riot’s wake.
His exit, one of several as Weiss reshapes the network, came months after CBS News gave the five-year anniversary of the Capitol riot only a passing mention on “CBS Evening News,” now anchored by Tony Dokoupil. MacFarlane later called the riot “not history” but “a current American story” during a BBC interview commemorating the anniversary.
“I’ll be here 365 days a year, chasing news, giving you news, trying to give you context and explanation,” MacFarlane said on Monday. “We can run through walls together to get to the other side of whatever this is. That’s how important a moment it is.”
