Linda Mason, the first woman to produce the "CBS Evening News," has died at 84, TheWrap and CBS News report. She died peacefully Wednesday surrounded by family, CBS News said.

Mason joined the network as a radio desk assistant in 1966 and spent 47 years there, the outlets report. She produced coverage for anchors Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather, TheWrap and CBS News report. TheWrap says she became the first woman to produce for the evening newscast in 1971. She later rose to senior vice president of standards and special projects, the outlet reports.

She was executive producer of "CBS News Sunday Morning" from 1987 to 1992, TheWrap reports. On that program she covered Ronald Reagan's first trip to the Soviet Union and the funeral of Japan's Emperor Hirohito, the outlets report. She also covered the unrest in China before the Tiananmen Square uprising. She oversaw the documentary series "CBS Reports" and the newsmagazine "Eye to Eye," TheWrap and CBS News report.

As a senior executive, Mason led the network's review of its 2000 election-night mistakes, TheWrap reports. Her 87-page report led to changes in how CBS News called races, the outlet says. She later served as the network's liaison to an independent panel that looked into a flawed 2004 report on President George W. Bush's National Guard service, TheWrap reports.

Mason won 13 Emmy Awards and three Peabody Awards, the outlets report. She grew up in Middletown, New York, and graduated from Brown University, TheWrap and CBS News report. In 2023 she published a memoir, "Speak Up: Breaking the Glass Ceiling at CBS News," TheWrap says.

What we know: Linda Mason, a 47-year CBS News veteran, died Wednesday at 84.
What we don't: The cause of death and plans for a memorial.