Just before the latest flare up between Israel and Hamas, CBS News laid off a dozen long-time staffers in its Tel Aviv bureau, leaving London-based Mark Phillips as lead reporter on stories in the Middle East, the New York Observer reports. Paul Friedman, senior VP at CBS News, says fully staffed bureaus are no longer needed to cover these kinds of international stories. “Look at our coverage this week,” he tells the paper. “We’re working with a new model, essentially. I’ll put our coverage up against anyone’s coverage.”
—Jon Lafayette