Linda Mason, first female CBS Evening News producer, dies at 84
Linda Mason, the CBS News executive and first female producer of the CBS Evening News, died at 84 after a 47-year network career.
By Deshawn Carter · Sports Writer
2 min read
Linda Mason died at 84, CBS News said, closing the story of a behind-the-scenes television news leader whose 47 years at the network included breaking a barrier at the “CBS Evening News.”
CBS News said Mason died peacefully Wednesday night surrounded by family. She joined the network in 1966 as a radio desk assistant and became the first female producer of the “CBS Evening News” in 1971.
Her work later put her alongside anchors Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather. Mason served as a senior producer on the evening broadcast from 1980 to 1986, according to the International Women’s Media Foundation.
Who was Linda Mason at CBS News?
Mason was a producer and executive whose work ranged from daily broadcasts to long-term editorial policy. CBS News said she became executive producer of “CBS News Sunday Morning,” vice president of public affairs and head of its standards department.
The International Women’s Media Foundation identifies her as the former senior vice president for standards and special projects. In that role, it said, she oversaw CBS News standards and practices, the network’s archives, internship programs and minority recruiting.
Her “Sunday Morning” reporting included former President Ronald Reagan’s first visit to the Soviet Union, the funeral of Japanese Emperor Hirohito and unrest in China before the Tiananmen Square uprising, CBS News reported.
A career across CBS News programs
Mason executive produced “CBS News Sunday Morning” from 1987 to 1992 and the network’s weekend broadcasts from 1986 to 1992, the International Women’s Media Foundation said.
She also oversaw and executive produced the documentary series “CBS Reports,” according to CBS News. Her other work included the news magazine “Eye to Eye” and the anniversary specials “60 Minutes ... 25 Years” and “60 Minutes at 30.”
After CBS News’ election-night errors in 2000, Mason led an internal review panel. The International Women’s Media Foundation said its 87-page report was followed by a restructuring of the CBS News Decision Desk and other changes to the network’s election-night procedures.
Mason received 13 Emmy Awards, three Peabody Awards, an Edward R. Murrow Award, an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award and the Grand Prize of the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards, CBS News said.
Raised in Middletown, New York, Mason earned a Brown University degree in international relations in 1964 and a Syracuse University master’s degree in filmmaking in 1965, according to CBS News. The Deadline Club inducted her into its Hall of Fame in 2013, the International Women’s Media Foundation said.
This story draws on original reporting from CBS News.