Bari Weiss has two jobs. Since October, she has been the editor in chief of CBS News, a high-profile position that has put her under intense scrutiny from network staffers and outside critics.
But she never gave up her old gig running the Free Press, a conservative opinion website that CBS’s parent company bought for $150 million. After a few months of modest overlap, including some Free Press staffers appearing on network streaming shows, Weiss has moved to accelerate the convergence of the two starkly different media brands.
In a CBS News all-staff meeting Tuesday, Weiss announced a new slate of network contributors, many of whom are on the Free Press’s roster of writers, according to audio of the meeting reviewed by The Washington Post.
Weiss told the CBS News staff that she wanted the network to appeal to political moderates. “We’re for the center. We’re for the center-right, and we’re for the center-left,” she said.
She also outlined a critique of the network’s current standing. “The honest truth is right now we are not producing a product that enough people want,” she said. “I am here to make CBS News fit for purpose in the 21st century.”
Weiss argued that CBS is too focused on maintaining its broadcast audience rather than building for the future. “Our strategy until now has been clinging to the audience that remains on broadcast television, and I’m here to tell you that if we stick to that strategy, we are toast,” she said.
Weiss also took pains to explain her rationale for postponing a “60 Minutes” segment on the treatment of deportees from the United States sent to El Salvador’s CECOT prison, which led to internal criticism over the last-minute change.
“Am I ever going to hold something again after it has been put out there with promos? I don’t want to make that exact same decision again. No, I do not,” Weiss told staffers. “But asking for more information, trying to go back to a source, making sure that we have as much information in that particular case on the kinds of people that were being sent to that faraway, horrible prison, yeah, I felt that was important and I felt it was important to do our best to try and get a voice from the administration, and I’m always gonna be pushing for that.”
Weiss said she was not pressured to hold the segment or make any editorial decisions by David Ellison, who hired her and runs Paramount Skydance, CBS’s parent company.
The segment was abruptly shelved when Weiss asked for an on-camera interview with an official from President Donald Trump’s administration, but it eventually aired four weeks later in January without the interview she sought. Instead, the producers added a long coda with extra notes and written comments from government officials.
Staffers were notified of the all-hands meeting on Monday when Weiss emailed out an infographic that simply read: “Please join Bari Weiss to talk about the future of CBS News.” Staffers were asked to submit questions for Weiss in advance via email, though she took a few questions that were not preapproved.
Since she has taken over CBS News, Weiss has overseen layoffs, introduced Tony Dokoupil as the new host of “CBS Evening News” and intervened to hold the “60 Minutes” segment. Those actions have prompted heated debate from critical onlookers and network insiders trying to understand Weiss’s plans for CBS News.
“It’s her right as EIC to seek changes,” said one CBS News staffer, adding that the last-minute shelving of the “60 Minutes” segment “could have been handled better.” The staffer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid possible repercussions for discussing internal matters, didn’t think Weiss’s latest personnel moves would have much impact.
“She’ll bring on a few new contributors with perspectives we haven’t had before? Okay,” the staffer said. “Will that move the needle? Probably not.”
“It’s a lot of big talk, and some of the ideas aren’t bad ones,” another staffer said. “We all know ratings are outdated metrics and that information should be more agile across new platforms. What we all diverge from Bari on is how she’s going about it.”
Some were more supportive of Weiss’s presentation. “Her macro diagnosis of changes in industry is absolutely spot-on,” a CBS staffer said. While Weiss offered some platitudes, the staffer said, she was right in underscoring that information is a commodity while contextual enterprise reporting is the future. “Spot-on,” the staffer said.
The new contributor list included some Free Press columnists and contributing writers, including Harvard professor and happiness scholar Arthur Brooks, British historian Niall Ferguson, writer and podcast host Coleman Hughes, and technology journalist Patrick McGee. Other new CBS News contributors include the writer and former military and intelligence officer Elliot Ackerman, Iran-focused journalist Masih Alinejad, former Trump national security adviser H.R. McMaster, and Manhattan Institute President Reihan Salam — all of whom have had bylines on the website.
Roger Carstens, a diplomat and former Trump administration hostage envoy, and longevity influencer Peter Attia were also among the new contributors announced.
Also new to CBS News is Andrew Huberman, a neuroscientist turned podcaster who has been criticized for platforming health claims without evidence and leveraging his credentials to give questionable health advice. In September, he posted on X that “I now do pay some attention to how the shapes of peoples heads relates to their intellect and steadiness, or lack thereof.” His “Huberman Lab” podcast has become one of the most-listened-to health podcasts. Suzy Weiss, a Free Press co-founder and reporter who is Bari Weiss’s sister, wrote a defense of Huberman in 2024 after a New York magazine investigation into his professional claims and allegedly adulterous relationships with women.
Mark Hyman, a physician and functional medicine proponent who has promoted extensive personal lab testing, was also named a contributor. Hyman is a longtime ally of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Trump’s nominee for Surgeon General, Casey Means, has invested in Hyman’s company, which she has promoted, according to her September disclosure form.
In a recent podcast interview with Katie Miller, Kennedy named Attia, Huberman and Hyman when asked about the best people for lifestyle advice.
Gayle King, a longtime host of “CBS Mornings,” also addressed CBS News staffers after Weiss’s presentation.
“What I like, Bari, about what you outlined is that I don’t know anybody in this room that doesn’t want to make change for the better. I don’t know anybody that doesn’t want to kick it up a notch. And, and I just don’t want any of us to lose sight of who we are and the job that we do here. I’m so proud to work at this company,” King said.
“I also wanna say to the leakers in the building … I am so sick of that,” King said. “I’ll be curious to see how long it takes for this to get out, ’cause it’ll be somebody in this room.”
Weiss interjected: “I’m sure someone’s live-streaming it right now, Gayle.”
Caitlin Gilbert and Lauren Weber contributed to this report.
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