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Who is Bari Weiss? Massive buzz as queer woman set to control CBS News as Paramount buys Free Press startup
Bari Weiss has been appointed editor-in-chief of CBS News after its owner, Paramount, acquired her media company, the Free Press.
CBS News owner Paramount will buy the Free Press, a media company started by Bari Weiss, and has named her editor-in-chief of the renowned US news network.
Weiss, 41, has established herself as a growing media operator and a heterodox opinion writer despite having no prior work experience in broadcast television.
Weiss, who is well-known for blasting liberal organizations and "cancel culture," left the New York Times as a writer in 2021 and created the Free Press with her colleague Nellie Bowles. She claimed that the newspaper closely criticized her.
“As of today, I am editor-in-chief of CBS News, working with new colleagues on the shows that have impacted American culture for generations – shows like 60 Minutes and Sunday Morning – and shaping how millions of Americans read, listen, watch, and, most importantly, understand the news in the 21st century,” Weiss wrote in the Free Press on Monday.
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CBS News employees react to Weiss appointment
CBS News employees have been discussing about what will happen next after Weiss' hiring.
“Everyone is sending the articles around. Waiting to see how it will change — or if it will,” a CBS employee told Fox News Digital before the formal news.
“Everyone is waiting to see how things will fall. Nobody knows,” the worker said.
Earlier reports from Puck News and the New York Post stated that Paramount is expected to reveal that it has paid $150 million for Weiss' publication, The Free Press. Weiss will be appointed as the editor-in-chief of CBS News, reporting directly to David Ellison, the new owner of Paramount, bypassing CBS News President Tom Cibrowski, who presently reports to Paramount TV Media Chair George Cheeks.
Who is Bari Weiss?
For months, Ellison had been pursuing Weiss, even before he became the CEO of Paramount in August after the business merged with Skydance Media. In 2020, Weiss resigned from The New York Times, detailing harassment she experienced from coworkers in what she saw as a "illiberal environment."
In 2021, Weiss launched the "Common Sense" newsletter. In 2022, he changed the name to The Free Press and turned it into a full-fledged media company.
The CBS employee stated, "I think fresh ideas can’t hurt," in reference to Weiss joining the network. “I’m sure she has some, so let’s see.”
The company plans to lay off up to 10% of its employees nationwide this month, which will make Weiss' job more difficult, two people with firsthand knowledge told NPR under the condition of anonymity.
