http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/21/business/media/david-rhodes-takes-over-cbs-news-as-jeff-fager-shifts-focus-back-to-60-minutes.html 2014-11-20 23:29:53 David Rhodes Takes Over CBS News as Jeff Fager Shifts Focus Back to ‘60 Minutes’ CBS cast the moves as an orderly transition. Mr. Fager had been running the news division while serving as executive producer of “60 Minutes.” === CBS News announced a shake-up in leadership on Thursday, elevating David Rhodes to the top position in the division, while moving the chairman, Jeff Fager, back to running the network’s flagship news program, “60 Minutes,” full time. CBS cast the moves as an orderly transition that was set in motion four years ago when Leslie Moonves, the CBS chief executive, asked Mr. Fager to take over supervision of the news division while remaining as executive producer of “60 Minutes.” In a memo to staff members, Mr. Moonves described the decision as largely Mr. Fager’s. “Jeff has convinced me that the time has arrived for the next step in the plan we implemented almost four years ago,” Mr. Moonves wrote, which he said was for Mr. Rhodes to assume leadership as soon as he “got to know the organization.” In his own memo, Mr. Fager said of Mr. Rhodes, “I hired him almost four years ago with this moment in mind, and he has exceeded all expectations.” Mr. Rhodes’s title will not change: He will remain president of CBS News. Mr. Fager will give up his title of chairman. Mr. Fager’s dual role was unusual; the president of the network news division had always been a full-time position. “60 Minutes,” however, has had only two executive producers in its history — Under Mr. Fager, “60 Minutes” has continued to be, by far, the most successful prime-time news program in television. And under his leadership CBS has made improvements both in its evening news and morning news ratings. But the division has endured some turbulence as well during Mr. Fager’s tenure, with “60 Minutes,” coincidentally, at the center of its most troubling incident. In October 2013, the “60 Minutes” correspondent Mr. Fager took ultimate responsibility for the errors in the report, saying in a memo to the staff: “As executive producer, I am responsible for what gets on the air. I pride myself in catching almost everything, but this deception got through and it shouldn’t have.” At the time some CBS News staff members questioned how effectively Mr. Fager could lead the division and run “60 Minutes.” On Thursday, Mr. Moonves wrote in his memo of Mr. Fager’s work and decision to commit himself solely to the producer’s job: “It is remarkable that he has been capable of excelling at both roles for so long, and I fully understand this action on his part.”