CBS News, once the gold standard of American broadcast journalism, is about to enter uncharted territory. Paramount Skydance, the media empire controlled by billionaire David Ellison, is preparing to acquire The Free Press, a digital publication founded by out journalist Bari Weiss, for roughly $150 million. In exchange, Weiss will take on the newly created role of editor in chief of CBS News, an appointment that would give her sweeping influence over a network still associated with Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite.
The move, confirmed in New York Times and Washington Post reporting, comes as Paramount seeks to mollify the Trump administration, which has accused the network of bias while simultaneously holding the keys to Ellison’s $8 billion merger. For CBS journalists, the news has landed like a shock wave: A commentator-turned-entrepreneur, with no experience in television, will soon direct one of the nation’s largest newsrooms.
Weiss, now 41, became a household name in 2020 when she resigned from The New York Times with a viral letter denouncing the paper’s “illiberal environment.”
Related: Right-Leaning Out Journalists Bari Weiss, Andrew Sullivan Leave Posts
She claimed the newsroom had become intolerant of dissenting views, The Advocate reported. She said criticism of her positions led to hostile treatment by colleagues, who had called her a “Nazi” and a “racist,” and accused her of repeatedly writing about Jewish identity in a problematic way.
To her critics, it was self-aggrandizing martyrdom; to her admirers, it was a brave stand against cancel culture.
Within a year, she launched The Free Press on Substack, later building it into the platform that the Los Angeles Times notes is Substack’s best-selling U.S. politics outlet. With more than 1.2 million subscribers and prominent backers in Silicon Valley and Wall Street, the site became a go-to venue for essays deriding diversity programs, defending Israel’s policies in Gaza, and exposing what Weiss framed as media groupthink.
As The Guardian observed, Weiss cultivated elite networks quickly, cohosting an inauguration party with Elon Musk and Uber, counting Jeff Bezos and Sheryl Sandberg as fans, and attracting investors like billionaires Marc Andreessen and David Sacks.
Weiss is married to journalist Nellie Bowles, with whom she is raising two children. Yet, as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, she has consistently opposed trans rights and gender-affirming care. That contradiction, which made her celebrated as a “truth-teller” in conservative media while targeting some of the most vulnerable members of her own community, has drawn fierce criticism.
Assigned Media, a publication focused on trans rights, delves into how Weiss’s site operates in practice. In a critical 2023 piece titled “What is Bari Weiss’ ‘Free Press’?,” Assigned Media argued that the site presents itself as rigorous journalism but fails basic journalistic standards in key cases.
Related: St. Louis Children’s Hospital Gender-Affirming Care Department Passes Internal Review
One example: The Free Press published an essay by Jamie Reed, a former employee at the St. Louis Pediatric Transgender Center, alleging that youth were rushed into gender-affirming care. Assigned notes that The Free Press did not, as would be expected in robust journalism, attempt to verify Reed’s claims through interviews with doctors, parents, or external records. Instead, local outlets later contacted many families, but none recognized Reed’s narrative.
The Independent described Weiss as a “stridently pro-Israel, proudly anti-‘woke’ culture warrior.” Crisis Magazine, a Catholic publication, branded her the “It Lesbian of the American Right,” attacking her family and accusing conservatives of betraying their values by embracing her.
Weiss’s rise coincides with Trump’s reassertion of control over media institutions. In October 2024, Trump sued CBS over an edited 60 Minutes interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris, his opponent at the time. While CBS initially called the case “completely without merit,” Paramount later paid $16 million to settle after Trump’s reelection. Soon after Trump retook office, CBS canceled Stephen Colbert’s show, a move critics connected to appeasing the administration as it considered Ellison’s merger.
Related: Mom’s Interview With Anti-Trans Media Draws Criticism After Teen Responds
By August, the FCC approved the $8 billion Skydance-Paramount deal. Ellison took charge of the rebranded Paramount Skydance and quickly began reshaping CBS News, first by appointing Kenneth Weinstein, a leader of a conservative think tank, as ombudsman. Now, with Weiss’s appointment, the shift appears complete.
CBS staff are bracing for impact. A former network veteran told the Independent that hiring Weiss would be “like dropping a grenade.” The Los Angeles Times quoted executives who were worried about her lack of broadcast experience and predicted that managing more than a thousand staff members would prove daunting.
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