The liberal community is in a state of disquiet following reports that Bari Weiss, an independent journalist, is being considered for a significant role at CBS News.
This comes as the new Paramount chief is on the brink of finalizing a substantial deal with her.
According to Fox News, Puck News revealed on Wednesday that David Ellison, the CEO of Paramount, is on the verge of acquiring Weiss' online publication, The Free Press. Ellison, who assumed control of Paramount last month following an $8 billion merger with Skydance, is also planning to assign Weiss a top editorial role at the struggling broadcast network.
Weiss, a classical liberal, famously left The New York Times in 2020 after being targeted by her far-left colleagues. Her publication, The Free Press, has been largely shunned by the cultural left due to its reporting that challenges DEI, gender ideology, and media narratives against Israel during its ongoing conflict with Hamas.
Oliver Darcy, author of the Status newsletter, expressed his concern about the impending deal, describing the reported $100 to $200 million price tag as an "absurd sum." He stated, "David Ellison vowed not to politicize Paramount yet his first big move at CBS News is a major bet on Bari Weiss, one of the most polarizing figures in media."
Darcy further cautioned that giving Weiss control could potentially undermine trust among the network's viewers, reinforcing suspicions about Ellison's agenda. He argued that this move could lead CBS News to squander its hard-earned credibility with its audience, who value its history and demand that it remains unbowed to power.
HuffPost also labeled Weiss as the "polarizing editor of The Free Press" in its report, suggesting that the pending acquisition provides a glimpse into how Ellison, the son of a top Trump ally, plans to shape CBS News in the future.
Salon referred to Weiss as a "controversial figure" and the "polarizing editor and founder of conservative outlet The Free Press." The far-left magazine The Nation published an article with a headline decrying "Vile Grifters Are Taking Over Establishment Media."
Senior editor of The Nation, Jack Mirkinson, wrote on Thursday, "If we lived in a less terrible time and place, Weiss would be dismissed as a crank and a bigot, and never heard from again. But we live in the waking nightmare that is the United States in 2025. So instead, Weiss is being rewarded with a prize that even she must think is kind of wild. That prize? CBS News."
Mirkinson further expressed his hope that CBS News staffers would resist this attempt to destroy their workplace and that Weiss's tenure at CBS would be short-lived. He also expressed his desire for a world where individuals like Weiss are treated with contempt and relegated to the cultural wilderness.
While conservatives and critics of the legacy media have largely welcomed the idea of Weiss leading a CBS overhaul, liberals and anti-Israel commentators have criticized the move on social media.
Taylor Lorenz, a former Washington Post reporter, reacted by saying, "The right-wing grift economy is undefeated." Progressive Twitch personality Hasan Piker sarcastically exclaimed, "Finally! a pro-Israel voice in mainstream media!"
Liberal writer Jil Filipovic shared a screenshot of a Free Press op-ed penned by conservative commentator Ben Shapiro and commented, "CBS about to become your go-to news source on keffiyeh-wearing college students, how wokeness is the defining crisis of our times, whatever trans kids are up to, and whatever this is."
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