‘We don’t know what the hell her job is going to be,’ one anonymous staffer says. ‘Where does she fit in the hierarchy?’
Paramount formally announced the onetime New York Times opinion writer turned Free Press founder Bari Weiss as its editor in chief on Monday. Staffers at the perennially third-place network and their allies in the mainstream media are not taking it well.
Inside CBS News, employees did the courageous thing: They started anonymously leaking their incensed reactions to left-wing outlets like the Guardian and Mehdi Hasan’s Zeteo. Some encouraged Weiss not to “mess with the Golden Goose(s) of ’60 Minutes’ and ‘CBS News Sunday Morning,'” the network’s most prominent programs. As far as we understand it, that’s, like, her new job. Outside the network, a trio of Times columnists voiced their displeasure. Progressive news site Salon went so far as to cite former CBS anchor Dan Rather—who was unceremoniously fired in 2006 after he humiliated the network when he broadcast a false report on 60 Minutes II about George W. Bush’s military service records in an attempt to throw the 2004 election to John Kerry—as the type of heroic journalist who would oppose Weiss and her “political interference.” No, seriously.
Prominent CBS News hosts like Margaret Brennan and Gayle King have not publicly commented on Weiss’s hiring, though Brennan did share an Associated Press report on the move. Brennan, King, and the likes of Norah O’Donnell, Robert Costa, and Scott Pelley will ultimately report to Weiss, at least for now—new CBS chief David Ellison reportedly plans to “right-size” the network, which is losing around $50 million a year.
Here are some of our favorite reactions to Weiss’s arrival at the Tiffany network:
— “A throwing up emoji is not enough of a reflection of the feelings in here.” (Anonymous CBS staffer to the Guardian)
— “People are using words like depressing and doomsday – feels like some sort of doomsday.” (Anonymous “reporter” to the Independent)
— “What the fuck?” (Anonymous CBS “source” to Zeteo)
— “I think the ombudsman, Bari Weiss, and the impending massive layoffs that are coming in a couple of weeks have everyone just kind of freaking out, like, literally freaking out.” (Anonymous CBS “journalist” to the Independent)
— “We don’t know what the hell her job is going to be. I mean, ‘editor-in-chief’ – what does that even mean. It makes no sense. Where does she fit in the hierarchy?” (Anonymous CBS “source” to Zeteo)
— “It’s just like anybody that you think isn’t qualified for the job that comes in, there’s going to be trepidation, right? Whether it’s Bari Weiss or, you know, Michael Scott from The Office.” (Anonymous CBS “correspondent” to the Independent)
— “I do not think a lot of the stuff that’s on Bari Weiss’s Free Press would pass our standards. It’s offensive that someone’s being hired who has zero experience in television. There are people at CBS who have dedicated their entire careers to understanding and developing the skills that are needed.” (Anonymous CBS “source” to Zeteo)
— “Two decades after Dan Rather warned that corporate control would erode journalism, CBS News may be proving him right. Under new owner Larry Ellison, the network has named Bari Weiss, founder of The Free Press, as its new editor in chief, raising fears of political interference and layoffs.” (Salon.com)
— “Not to be a pedant but Bari Weiss was a junior editor who occasionally wrote opinion pieces in the opinion section, not a columnist.” (New York Times columnist Lydia Polgreen)
— “anyway, looking forward to bari weiss restoring ‘trust in news’ where ‘trust in news’ means pumping out propaganda for your oligarch boss.” (New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie)
— “In case it wasn’t clear, the anti-DEI crusade has never been about merit. Zero news experience. Never been a reporter. Elevated to Editor in Chief of CBS News, one of the most storied news institutions in the nation.” (New York Times Magazine writer Nikole Hannah-Jones)
— “CBS News desperately needs someone to supercharge its digital strategy. Maybe The Free Press can help. But staffers reading this morning’s memos are left to wonder: What exactly do the new bosses think we’re doing wrong?” (CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter)
— “The thing about Bari Weiss is how fucking boring she is, she’s not even bad in a fun way. Anyway, congrats. I will continue not relying on cbs news.” (Rolling Stone contributor Asawin Suebsaeng)
— “Bari Weiss and JD Vance are very similar figures with very similar skills.” (MSNBC host Chris Hayes)
— “Headlines like this — ‘Morale is extremely low at CBS ahead of Bari Weiss taking over’ — is, perversely, a key reason Paramount’s leadership paid such a ridiculous premium for Free Press. The *point* is to break the real journalists.” (Former Politico Magazine editor Garrett Graff)
— “CBS News is naming Bari Weiss Editor in Chief, which will make CBS News useless. She is indisputably biased towards Israel. In fact, that’s why she was hired.” (The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur)
— “Pray for 60 Minutes. It is the most indispensable news entity we have and it is about to be overseen by someone who thinks we need to give equal weight to people who argue that the earth is flat and to people who argue that the earth is round.” (Democratic strategist and frequent CNN guest Julie Roginsky)
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