What will Bari Weiss do as head of CBS News? Her past may offer clues.

Well, it’s official. Bari Weiss is now in charge of CBS News.

Just five years after leaving The New York Times as an opinion columnist and starting her own media outlet, Weiss is now doing something she has never done before: not only working at a TV news network, but running it.

In addition to this long-anticipated but still-stunning announcement, Weiss’ Free Press is being acquired by CBS’s owner, Paramount, for $150 million. Weiss will report to David Ellison, Paramount’s chief executive.

It’s hard to overstate the enormity of the moment. The Los Angeles Times’ Stephen Battaglio called it “the most closely watched lab experiments in the modern media era.”

As The New York Times’ Benjamin Mullin, Lauren Hirsch and Michael M. Grynbaum noted, “The acquisition puts one of the country’s most traditional news institutions — the former home of Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite — under the editorial guidance of a journalist who rose to fame in part by critiquing old-line media institutions that she deemed timid and untrustworthy. Ms. Weiss is also a stalwart champion of Israel, and her site frequently lambastes the perceived excesses of the so-called woke left.”

Weiss seemed completely done with so-called “legacy media” when she left the Times in 2020. What changed?

In a video from her “Honestly” podcast, Weiss announced her big move. She also published a written article, which was virtually a transcript of her video announcement.

In her first public comments, Weiss said what everyone has been thinking: “Wasn’t The Free Press started precisely because the old media institutions had failed? Isn’t the whole premise of this publication that we need to build anew? Why flee The New York Times only to head back into another legacy institution?”

Weiss said when she quit the Times in 2020, it was no longer what she considered The New York Times, adding, “It was, by then, a fancy logo and a motto that many had abandoned in exchange for devotion to a set of narrow, partisan ideas.”

She said in 2020 that important public conversations were being held outside established institutions such as universities, book publishers, movie studios and newspaper companies. Weiss said she wanted to be a part of these new conversations.

She then said, “Five years later, so much has changed. As the gatekeepers of the mainstream have failed one after another, an explosion took place across the media landscape. Incredible new voices came to the fore. Personalities and influencers have overtaken hundred-year-old journalism brands in only a few years. It’s an exciting, fascinating moment.”

Ultimately, Weiss said she has a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” adding, “It gives The Free Press a chance to help reshape a storied media organization — to help guide CBS News into a future that honors those great values that underpin The Free Press and the best of American journalism. And in doing so, to bring our mission to millions of people.”

But what does it all mean?

Weiss wrote, “What does this mean for CBS News? It means a redoubled commitment to great journalism. It means building on a storied legacy — and bringing that historic newsroom into 2025 and beyond. Most of all, it means working tirelessly to make sure CBS News is the most trusted news organization in the world. We would not be doing this if we did not believe in David Ellison, and the entire leadership team who took over Paramount this summer. They are doubling down because they believe in news. Because they have courage. Because they love this country. And because they understand, as we do, that America cannot thrive without common facts, common truths, and a common reality.”

Again, lots of words like “courage” and “love of country” and “facts” and “truth” — most of which sound great in a pep talk or, in this case, as an introduction. But do they actually say anything?

Instead of looking at Weiss’ words about the future, it might be best to look at the actions of her recent past.

MSNBC’s Matt Johnson wrote, “The Free Press has painstakingly built its public identity around no-fear-or-favor journalism — claiming to offer the ‘quality once expected from the legacy press, but the fearlessness of the new’ — but its record demonstrates that this is just a hollow branding exercise.”

Johnson added, “The Free Press isn’t fearless or heterodox. It’s a slickly produced right-of-center online magazine that flatters its readers’ priors about wokeness and the sins of the left, while fastidiously deflecting from the uncomfortable reality that the Trump administration is in the process of dismantling the institutions of American democracy. This is why The Free Press enjoys unique access to the Trump administration — from its long list of ‘exclusives’ filled with administration boilerplate to an April puff piece about second lady Usha Vance that described her as the ‘most impressive person in the job since Abigail Adams.’”

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Weiss’ message to staff

Weiss first introduced herself to what is reportedly a very apprehensive “wait-and-see” staff at CBS News on Monday with a memo saying she is “thrilled and humbled.”

The Guardian’s Jeremy Barr reported that one CBS News employee said, “A throwing up emoji is not enough of a reflection of the feelings in here."

Weiss then laid out her core journalistic values:

• Journalism that reports on the world as it actually is
• Journalism that is fair, fearless, and factual
• Journalism that respects our audience enough to tell the truth plainly — wherever it leads
• Journalism that makes sense of a noisy, confusing world
• Journalism that explains things clearly, without pretension or jargon
• Journalism that holds both American political parties to equal scrutiny
• Journalism that embraces a wide spectrum of views and voices so that the audience can contend with the best arguments on all sides of a debate
• Journalism that rushes toward the most interesting and important stories, regardless of their unpopularity
• Journalism that uses all of the tools of the digital era
• Journalism that understands that the best way to serve America is to endeavor to present the public with the facts, first and foremost.

It’s a bit different than the principles laid out by MSNBC that I featured in Monday's newsletter.

Nieman Lab’s Laura Hazard Owen wrote:

MSNBC’s policy focuses much more on journalists themselves, and journalism as a profession. The policy is written from the journalists’ point of view (lots of “we,” “who we are,” etc.) The first bullet notes, “We advocate for journalists’ rights.” MSNBC foregrounds press freedom and the First Amendment. Weiss doesn’t talk about those concepts. Her memo mentions “America” twice (once in the values section, once further up in the memo) and “American” once. MSNBC’s principles do not include the word America or American, but there is one reference to “the world we cover.”

Owen adds:

MSNBC’s principles focus heavily on traditional journalistic ethics — asking for comment, anonymity policy, not accepting gifts, disclosures, corrections. Weiss doesn’t mention any of those things.

Weiss’ journey

Whether deserved or not, Weiss’ journey from a disgruntled New York Times opinion writer to media start-up founder to the head of one of the most respected names in American journalism is something to at least respect. Then again, one could argue that only an unusual and specific set of circumstances — most notably  Ellison taking over Paramount — is the reason Weiss is now running CBS News. If, for example, NBC News or ABC News suddenly had an opening for a head of news tomorrow, Weiss almost assuredly would not get even a passing consideration.

Yet here she is.

The headline on Jessica Testa’s piece for The New York Times is “How Bari Weiss Won.”

Testa wrote, “Ms. Weiss, 41, has ascended the mountain of journalism on a slingshot.” She added, “She achieved this without climbing the typical journalistic career ladder, and with no experience directing television coverage. She is richer in social clout than in Emmys or Pulitzers. And she is known more for wanting to rid the world of so-called wokeness than for promoting journalistic traditions.”

“Yet,” Testa wrote, “she has also come to symbolize the power and potential of independent media. Her world is a patchwork of podcasts, newsletters and videos built around a common idea that legacy outlets have lost their authority and connection with readers. With that power up for grabs, several younger outlets have spent the last few years jostling for it: The xxxxxx, Punchbowl News, Puck, Semafor.”

There’s no denying the success of The Free Press. Reports are that it has 170,000 paying subscribers, more than 1.5 million readers, and $15 million in annual subscription revenue.

The Free Press will fall under the Paramount umbrella, but is expected to remain independent.

In the end

Is Weiss coming in looking tinker with CBS News or to blow it up entirely? Just how much influence will she have over its signature newscasts: “60 Minutes,” “CBS Evening News,” “Face the Nation,” “CBS News Sunday Morning” and “CBS Mornings?”

“60 Minutes” remains the gold standard of TV journalism, with high ratings and high viewer trust. “CBS Sunday Mornings” remains spectacularly good and entertaining. “Face the Nation” and moderator Margaret Brennan produce newsworthy and fair interviews and topics each and every Sunday. And while the “CBS Evening News” is lagging behind in the ratings and still trying to find the right format to attract viewers, there has never been a question about its news judgment and journalistic integrity

Other than finding new ways to attract audiences, just how much should Weiss shake things up with the actual editorial content?

Ellison said in a statement that Weiss will “shape editorial priorities, champion core values across platforms and lead innovation in how the organization reports and delivers the news.”

In her note to staff, Weiss said it's her goal to “make CBS News the most trusted news organization in America and the world.”

Many, including those who already work at CBS News, would say, “Aren’t we among the most respected already?”

A media moment that lives in infamy

My Poynter colleague Amaris Castillo has a superb contribution to our Poynter 50 series — our project reflecting on 50 moments and people that shaped journalism over the past half-century.

She writes: “When the media chased Princess Diana to her death, it was forced to look in the mirror.”

It looks back at the night Princess Diana was killed in a car accident in a Paris tunnel in August 1997.

Castillo writes, “Diana’s death in a Paris tunnel was not only a moment of tremendous grief for those who loved and admired her. It was also a reckoning for the press. Her death ushered in intense public scrutiny and criticism of the media and calls for greater respect for privacy. Grief spilled over, with some citizens hurling insults at photographers and journalists. A 1997 Gallup poll of Great Britain and the United States found that over 70% of the citizens of the two countries said both Diana’s driver and the photographers were ‘extremely’ or ‘very’ responsible for the accident. More Britons (43%) than Americans (32%) assigned ‘extreme’ blame to the photographers.”

It’s a fascinating story well told by Castillo.

Coming or going

Last week, ESPN college football personality Paul Finebaum told Outkick’s Clay Travis that he was a Donald Trump supporter and that he might be interested in running for the Senate in his home state of Alabama.

Then Monday, Travis tweeted, “Per sources: Disney/ESPN has removed @finebaum from appearing on @ESPN since his @outkick interview expressing interest in running as a Republican for senate in Alabama. ESPN has canceled all network appearances on all shows, including some that have occurred for a decade plus.”

But ESPN vice president of communications Bill Hofheimer immediately fired back on X, retweeting Travis’ post and writing, “This is not true at all. The below is TOTALLY FALSE.”

Much was made that after Finebaum’s interview with Travis, he did not appear on ESPN’s “Get Up” last Thursday or “SportsCenter” on Sunday as he had the week before. However, Finebaum was on ESPN the day after the Travis interview, and he was on the ESPN-owned SEC Network on Saturday.

And now comes word that Finebaum will be on this morning’s “First Take.”

Sports Business Journal’s Austin Karp, whose reporting I trust way more than Travis, tweeted, “Sources confirm to @sbj that Paul Finebaum was never banned from ESPN airwaves and is scheduled for ‘First Take’ tomorrow morning. Has been on the schedule for a while now.”

Plus, it’s not even believable that ESPN would cut the appearances of a very popular on-air personality just because he said he might run for office at some point.

For what it’s worth, Travis posted a video while on vacation from what he called the “Gulf of America” (wearing a “Gulf of America” T-shirt), calling people morons and liars.

Speaking of sports media controversies

As I wrote about in Monday’s newsletter, the big sports media news over the weekend was Fox Sports NFL announcer Mark Sanchez being arrested after being stabbed in a late-night altercation in Indianapolis, where he was to call Sunday’s NFL game between the Indianapolis Colts and Las Vegas Raiders.

Reports are that Sanchez attacked a 69-year-old truck driver who backed into a parking spot at a Westin hotel’s loading docks. After reportedly being pushed and thrown to the ground by Sanchez, the man pepper-sprayed and then stabbed Sanchez, who was hospitalized overnight. Police announced Sanchez was being charged with three misdemeanors.

But on Monday, Marion County prosecutor Ryan Mears announced Sanchez was also being charged with a felony charge for battery involving serious bodily injury. That carries a potential sentence of one to six years in prison.

Meanwhile, a local Indianapolis sports personality — Dan Dakich, a former Indiana University basketball player who has hosted a radio show in Indiana and does a podcast for Outkick — is drawing attention for an awful tweet he sent out after news broke that Sanchez had been stabbed.

Before any of the details of the incident were publicly known, Dakich tweeted, “Sanchez or anyone being stabbed downtown indy should not be a surprise we have a ton of fatherless and armed African American kids descending on downtown Indy every weekend if that offends you f off as the chief of police Bailey and Rev Harrison have told you this!!”

The Atlantic’s Jemele Hill tweeted, “That leap from zero to racist broke an Olympic record. Well done.”

Dakich, however, has only doubled down since then. Even though he is being publicly crushed, he continues to be defiant. Either he sees nothing wrong with his tweet, which is disturbing, or he knows what he wrote is wrong and just doesn’t care — which is also disturbing.

Media tidbits

• In a rare interview, Washington Post executive editor Matt Murray talks with Status’ Oliver Darcy: “Murray’s WaPo Moment.”
• Mediaite’s Isaac Schorr with “FIREWORKS! Stephen Miller Battles CNN Anchor Over ‘Domestic Terrorism’ in Portland in All-Out Brawl.”
• The Associated Press’ David Bauder with “Associated Press disputes Trump’s false characterization of its legal fight over access.”
• Axios’ ​​Josephine Walker with “Chicago journalists sue Trump over ‘extreme brutality’ at ICE protests.”
• The New York Times’ Neil Vigdor with “Journalists at 3 Newspapers Quit Over Edits to a Charlie Kirk Story.”
• This is great news because it might be the best celebrity talk show on the planet. Deadline’s Jake Kanter with “The Graham Norton Show’ Renewed For Three Years By The BBC.”
• The Verge’s Terrence O’Brien with “Jane Goodall’s death triggered the premiere of Netflix’s new show.” And, from Netflix, it’s “In an Exclusive Interview, Dr. Jane Goodall Leaves Behind Her Last Words.”
• The Wall Street Journal’s E.B. Solomont with “Dave Portnoy Adds a Record-Breaking Home to His $95 Million Property Portfolio.”
• Variety’s Brian Steinberg tweeted, “NBC Sports says it has tapped Lenny Kravitz to create a musical intro for ‘Sunday Night Basketball,’ hoping for a relationship similar to Carrie Underwood and ‘Sunday Night Football.’”
• The National Hockey League’s regular season begins today with a triple-header starting at 5 p.m. on ESPN. Meanwhile, TNT Sports announced they have signed studio analyst Wayne Gretzky to a multi-year extension. Gretzky is the greatest hockey player in history and, while he is a decent analyst, he hasn’t been a difference maker. Perhaps it’s the show — “NHL on TNT” — which tries to recreate the legendary “Inside the NBA,” but doesn’t have near the TV talent to pull it off. Then again, ESPN’s studio show is no great shakes either.

Hot type

• As a big fan of craft beers, especially IPAs, I was saddened to read this story from The New York Times’ Julie Creswell: “Craft Breweries Struggle as Sales and Appetites Wane.”
• Lastly, how about something light. Like really light. But fun. Here’s The Ringer’s Tyler Parker with “Ranking the 117 Best NBA Names of the Quarter Century.”

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Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at [email protected].

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