CBS News to appoint former NYT opinion writer as new editor-in-chief
CBS News will reportedly appoint Bari Weiss as the news outlet’s editor-in-chief according to several reports. The announcement is expected to come on Monday.
Who’s Bari Weiss?
Weiss is a former New York Times opinion columnist who was brought in by The Times in 2017 to add more conservative voices after President Donald Trump’s first election, despite describing herself as a “radical centrist.”
She then resigned in 2020, saying she’d been “bullied” by liberal colleagues.
Weiss then launched her own newsletter on Substack, before hiring ten employees and launching The Free Press as a Substack-based new media company.
The Free Press became Substack’s best-selling outlet in the U.S. politics category. Paramount Skydance, CBS News’ parent company, will also acquire The Free Press for $150 million.
Weiss, a 41-year-old gay woman, is married to Nellie Bowles, also a former employee of The New York Times.
Weiss is also a staunch supporter of Israel and frequent critic of mainstream media.
While she aligns with conservatives on certain issues, she also describes herself as center left and is pro-choice and pro-gun control.
The former opinion writer has never worked in a television newsroom before but will now run a nearly 100-year-old broadcast network.
“There are a lot of opinion writers out there who I think would be great editors, because they’re curious about the truth,” Susan Seager, founder of the Press Freedom Project, told Straight Arrow News. “They investigate things. But I feel that she’s an ideologue and she’s not going to be interested in the truth of things. She’s got a point to make.”
“She doesn’t really have experience as a journalist,” Seager said. “She’s an opinion writer and I just think it’s really sad.”
What’s it mean for CBS?
It’s unclear exactly what kind of changes Weiss’ editorial leadership will bring to the network.
Many conservatives believe the network leans hard to the left. AllSides, a media bias rating company, shows CBS News leans 1.5 degrees to the left.
For comparison, AllSides shows Fox News leans 4.0 degrees to the right.
“I’ve always strived for telling the truth in the proper context and asking the tough questions to those in power,” an executive producer at a CBS-owned station who was granted anonymity out of fear of career reprisal, told Straight Arrow News. “We need to be allowed to do that on every level of CBS News, no matter which political party is in charge.”
Straight Arrow News reached out to several progressives and conservatives on this upcoming change, but most declined to comment on record.
Several progressives shared concerns that negative words against Weiss would spur antisemitism because she is Jewish and supports Israel.
Others shared their concerns.
“I hope I’m wrong, but this appointment suggests that CBS is moving away from reporting actual news and moving towards amplifying right-leaning commentary,” Victor Pickard, a Ph.D. and professor at the University of Pennsylvania whose research focuses on the political economy of the media, said to Straight Arrow News.
“It’s not surprising, but I just don’t know what kind of news sources we’re going to have anymore that aren’t completely toadying to Trump,” Seager added.
CBS changes
While CBS is a news outlet, it’s spent a lot of time making headlines in 2025.
Paramount Skydance has made several moves to address the Trump administration’s allegations of liberal bias as they sought approval for their merger earlier this year.
The company is now owned by David Ellison, son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison, one of the richest men in the world.
“It’s very bad that our press is owned by a bunch of billionaires,” Seager said.
Trump sued CBS over a 60 Minutes interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris. Originally, the network pushed back but decided to settle the suit following Trump’s reelection.
That show’s executive producer, Bill Owens, would go on to resign.
Two weeks later, CBS cancelled “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.” Colbert has been critical of the president. CBS said cutting Colbert was a “financial decision.”
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
