NEW YORK — A woman with Irish media experience who a decade ago spent a year at New York’s NPR Member station has been selected for the role of Executive Editor of a new unit focused on misinformation within CBS News and Standards.
Taking the role at CBS News Confirmed is Rhona Tarrant. She starts on April 1 and will report to CBS News and Stations SVP Claudia Milne, who heads standards and practices.
CBS News Confirmed is a new initiative that brings together a team of journalists who use data and technology to verify and fact-check questionable videos and reports and explain CBS News’ verification process. “CBS News Confirmed represents an investment in several key areas: hiring forensic journalists, new training, state-of-the-art technology and other tools, all focused on ensuring that CBS News combats misinformation and ensures the accuracy of its reporting,” CBS says.
Tarrant has trained journalists worldwide to verify, debunk and track online misinformation and disinformation through her work with the Google News Initiative and Storyful, where she has been head of editorial for the U.S. marketplace since 2019. Earlier, Tarrant served as EMEA deputy editor at Storyful, where she led daily coverage of international news events from Dublin.
“Rhona is one of the leading journalists and editors working in and breaking new ground in the area of verifying information,” said Milne. “She has developed new tools to uncover misinformation and disinformation and has worked across multiple platforms. Her experience and leadership will be an asset to CBS News Confirmed.”
Tarrant commented, “The rise of generative AI and online misinformation has made the role of journalists more critical than ever. I am thrilled to join the exceptional team at CBS News to lead this new unit dedicated to visual verification and fact-checking. Together, we’ll support CBS News’ unwavering commitment to journalistic excellence and empower our audience to sort fact from fiction.”
Tarrant worked from 2014 to 2015 at WNYC Radio in New York, where, as an assistant producer, she focused on a year-long investigative series that uncovered inaccurate reporting of road traffic deaths in New York City.
From 2011 to 2017, Tarrant served as a producer and reporter for RTÉ Radio and Television in Dublin.
