What Happens When Bad Journalism Gets Institutional Credibility?

Bari Weiss's Free Press published a story full of holes that led to Missouri banning trans healthcare. Now she's editor-in-chief of CBS News.

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On Monday, Paramount announced it had acquired The Free Press for $150 million and would be installing its founder, Bari Weiss, as editor-in-chief of CBS News. Weiss will report directly to Paramount CEO David Ellison, and according to the company, she’ll “shape editorial priorities, champion core values across platforms, and lead innovation in how the organization reports and delivers the news.”

If you’re not familiar with what’s been happening at CBS News lately, here’s the quick version: After Skydance merged with Paramount in a deal that required approval from Trump’s FCC, things got ugly fast. Paramount paid Trump $16 million to settle a frivolous lawsuit he’d filed over a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris. Bill Owens, the longtime executive producer of 60 Minutes, resigned in April, saying he’d “lost the independence that honest journalism requires.” Stephen Colbert’s show was canceled. And now, according to NPR, CBS News is planning network-wide layoffs of up to 10% of the workforce.

This is the context in which Weiss arrives.

Bari Weiss. Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images.

For those unfamiliar with Weiss and her publication: She quit The New York Times in 2020, published a resignation letter accusing her colleagues of “constant bullying,” and launched The Free Press (originally called Common Sense) as what she positioned as an antidote to mainstream media’s supposed liberal bias. The Free Press has built its brand on “anti-woke” content, heavy coverage critical of progressive politics, and staunch support for Israel.