Best way to cover major stories is to get as close to them as possible, said anchor O’Donnell

CBS News will begin airing CBS Evening News from Washington, D.C. the first week of December. Norah O’Donnell has anchored the newscast since mid July. She has strong connections in the nation’s capital, where she covered the White House, Congress and the Pentagon before becoming an anchor.

Speaking with B&C, O’Donnell mentioned her beat reporter past as a factor in the move to Washington. “The best way to cover stories is to get as close to them as you can,” she said. “We looked at the landscape in 2020 and said, ‘How can we best cover what’s going to be the biggest story of the day?’ And so the executives made the decision about moving the broadcast to Washington.”

CBS News did not share which day in the first week of December the D.C. newscasts will begin.

O’Donnell stressed that CBS Evening News will not be “a Washington broadcast.”

“It originates in Washington and is going to use the resources here to deliver the smartest and newsiest broadcast,” she said.

O’Donnell mentioned Susan Zirinsky, CBS News president, approaching her about anchoring Evening News earlier this year, and discussing the potential move. Zirinsky started at CBS News in Washington during college and was a desk assistant in the Washington bureau days after Watergate broke.

“I can already tell the whole team is energized by it,” said O’Donnell of the relocation. “I think our reporting is always what sets CBS apart, and we’re continuing to build on that. And I think we’re better positioned than ever to do that now.”