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** OPINION
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** Bari Weiss says CBS News must start ‘building.’ Her first act: hiring 18 commentators
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(AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

We’re getting a clearer picture of what new editor-in-chief Bari Weiss has in store for CBS News.

Eric Deggans, NPR’s critic-at-large, put it this way ([link removed]) : “Seems like her plan is to replace the journalists w/podcasters/influencers.”

That certainly was one of the vibes you could get following a town hall that Weiss had with CBS News staffers on Tuesday. She told staff, “We are not producing a product that enough people want.”

Weiss also said, “Our strategy until now has been: Cling to the audience that remains on broadcast television. I’m here to tell you that if we stick to that strategy, we’re toast. Starting now, we have to focus on what we’re building, not on what we’re maintaining.”

With that, NPR’s David Folkenflik reported ([link removed]) , “Weiss announced the hiring of 18 paid commentators — on subjects ranging from national security to health and wellness — as part of an effort to ‘widen the aperture of the stories we tell and the voices we listen to.’ They include HR McMaster, who served as national security advisor during the first Trump administration; Reihan Salam, the president of the conservative Manhattan Institute; and the historian Niall Ferguson.”

At the same time, Weiss is expected to oversee significant cuts to the newsroom, although those details did not come up in Tuesday’s town hall meeting.

The New York Times’ Michael M. Grynbaum and Benjamin Mullin wrote ([link removed]) , “Her rallying cry was intended as a reset of sorts, a chance to cut through the suspicions that Ms. Weiss, a frequent critic of the mainstream news media and founder of the independent site The Free Press, is trying to tilt CBS News into more pro-Trump territory. She urged her journalists to reel in investigative scoops (and ‘scoops of ideas, scoops of explanation’) and think beyond traditional TV broadcasts, referring to her ideal reporters as ‘dynamic Swiss Army knives capable of writing, speaking, hosting, reporting, analyzing and writing.’”

Weiss, however, also said CBS News will reach a larger audience by “marrying the journalistic principles that will never change — seeking the truth, serving the public, and ferociously guarding our independence — with the tools that constantly are. We can still do what the Wild West of social media cannot.”

It has been a controversial start for Weiss at CBS News. There was the uproar of her pulling a “60 Minutes” story at the last moment, as well as the rocky start for her hand-picked anchor of the “CBS Evening News,” Tony Dokoupil. And, of course, there’s this: She is taking over the news division of a major TV network despite having absolutely no experience in TV news.

She acknowledged that by telling the staff, “I just want to start by saying: I get it. And I get why, in the face of all this tumult and noise, you might feel uncertain or skeptical about me and about what I’m aiming to do here. So I’m not going to stand up here today in front of all of you and ask for your trust: I’m going to earn it, just like we have to do with our viewers. What I can give you is what I’ve always tried to give my readers and listeners as a journalist: and that is transparency, clarity and straight talk.”

Weiss also admitted that her vision might not be for everybody. She told staff, “We are the best-capitalized media startup in the world. We have the talent, we have the energy, and we have the mandate to transform CBS News. And if everyone here does their jobs right, and together, in a year’s time, CBS News is going to look different. But startups aren’t for everybody. … If that’s not your bag, that’s OK. It’s a free country, and I completely respect it if you decide I’m not the right leader for you, or this isn’t the right place at the right time.”

Weiss had written remarks for her town hall, which were shared with the media. CNN’s Brian Stelter has those remarks here ([link removed]) .

In the Q&A portion of the town hall, Weiss did address her pulling the “60 Minutes” story about Venezuelan men deported by the U.S. to a notorious prison in El Salvador.

Folkenflik wrote, “According to someone who attended Tuesday's meeting, Weiss conceded making a mistake on the ‘60 Minutes’ story, saying she had not understood how the timing of her decision would throw the show into disarray. Yet she did not back down from the merits of her decision, which she grounded in the desire to get a Trump administration official to speak about the matter on camera.”

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** Where’s the leak?
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One of the more amusing moments of CBS News’ town hall was that morning show co-host Gayle King, during what was called an “at times scattered monologue,” ([link removed]) complained about the possibility of the meeting being leaked to the media.

King told colleagues, “I would like to think that we can have conversations and that we could talk candidly with each other, and it's not going to frigging be in the paper. I'm so sick of that. I'm so sick of it. So, I'll be curious to see how long it takes for this to get out, because it'll be somebody in this room.”

We know she said this because it was, well, leaked. Of course it was leaked! It’s a room full of journalists, many of whom are worried about their futures, sitting in a meeting to discuss their futures. And unlike King, many of them don’t make $13 million a year.

It’s also a bit rich that someone who works at a news organization that depends on leaks to break many big stories is complaining about leaks.

Reports are that King appeared to give Weiss a vote of confidence in the town hall, saying, “I like Bari, that you laid out a vision, you know? For many people, they’ve never even heard your freakin’ voice. So it’s good for them to hear — to see you’re a real person, and this is what you want, and how you feel about us, and how you feel about this job.”

Before King spoke, Weiss praised King, saying she was “absolutely beloved” and that she sees her “long into the future” at CBS. There had been some speculation ([link removed]) that King could see her role at CBS News change and her salary cut significantly.


** Post problems
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Journalists from The Washington Post continue to flood social media with posts about the important work they do, as well as pleas to owner Jeff Bezos to save their newsroom.

But it all feels futile.

With each passing hour, it appears more and more likely that the Post will go through with plans to make massive cuts to the newsroom. Rumors continue to circulate that the paper will eliminate the sports department, as well as make deep cuts to the foreign desk.

The timetable for when the layoffs could come is unknown, but speculation is growing that it could be as soon as this week.

Puck’s John Ourand and Dylan Byers wrote ([link removed]) , “The Post cuts — which could affect as many as 300 employees, according to sources — are the culmination of a two-year effort by (publisher Will) Lewis to fundamentally transform the paper and reverse hundreds of millions in annual losses. In that effort, Lewis has decided to focus the Post’s editorial investment on a few core coverage areas — national security, politics, etcetera — while all but abandoning full-time coverage of topics where the paper doesn’t see adequate demand. Unfortunately, that includes sports. Insiders expect the layoff process to begin as soon as this week.”

Still, journalists at the Post continue to make their case to Bezos.

On Tuesday, staffers from the local desk sent a note to Bezos ([link removed]) , highlighting the work they do and saying they had an “urgent plea: Don’t eliminate our jobs.”

The Washington Post Guild sent a note to Bezos ([link removed]) , writing that it “vehemently opposes more cuts” and that the layoffs would undercut the Post’s mission to hold power to account without fear or favor and provide critical insight into communities across the region, country, and world.

The guild then wrote, “If Jeff Bezos no longer supports that mission, then the Post and its readers deserve a steward who does.”

The mystery in all of this is: What, exactly, is going through Bezos’ head? The Amazon founder bought the paper in 2013 for about $250 million and, by all accounts, was something of a savior in the journalism community, especially for the Post. He dumped a bunch of money into one of America’s legendary news organizations and stayed out of the way, allowing journalists to do their jobs.

It was never going to be a profitable business venture, and Bezos had to have known that. Yet, at least from the outside, it appeared that Bezos was more than OK with putting civic duty above all else.

Clearly something has changed in the past couple of years. Yes, from all accounts, the Post is losing money. A lot of money. In July 2023, The New York Times’ Benjamin Mullin and Katie Robertson reported ([link removed]) the Post was on pace to lose $100 million that year. That was a year before the Post made the shocking decision to withdraw a planned endorsement for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and then completely revamping its editorial department — moves that led to the Post hemorrhaging subscribers.

No one is saying that the owner of a newspaper, no matter how rich he is, should lose hundreds of millions. But there was a time when Bezos saw the Post as having a higher meaning than making money, and that has changed.


** Stewart’s spot-on comments
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Jon Stewart, shown here in 2024. (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Jon Stewart, host of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” blasted Trump administration officials and many Republicans over their hypocrisy on guns. Case in point: Government officials have said that Alex Pretti, the Minneapolis protester shot and killed by Border Patrol, should not have brought a gun to a protest. Yet, many in MAGA-land defended Jan. 6 insurrectionists who carried guns, as well as Kyle Rittenhouse, who was armed with an AR-15-style rifle (and killed two protesters) during a Black Lives Matter protest in 2020.

Stewart mocked many Republicans by saying, “I wasn’t shocked when you guys gave up the First Amendment, and I wasn’t shocked when you gave up the Fourth Amendment, and the 10th Amendment, and the 14th Amendment at Trump’s behest. But the Second? Isn’t that kind of the load-bearing law of the ‘Don’t Tread on Me’ flag? Your snake’s down to a newt. … C’mon, guns are your whole personality.”

Later, however, Stewart turned more serious, talking about Pretti’s death and the government account that doesn’t line up with the videos we’ve seen of the shooting. Stewart said, “To add insult to injury is the denial of the reality that we all witnessed. They’re lying. We saw it. And that’s how brazen they lie when they know we’ve seen the truth. That’s how they lie when they know we know. Imagine how they lie when there’s no evidence to contradict them. And maybe that more than anything explains why Alex Pretti really was a threat; because he was brandishing a weapon: a handheld, aluminum 1080p 60fps weapon of mass illumination. Because there is nothing more dangerous to a regime predicated on lies than witnesses who capture the truth.”


** Remembering a legend
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Geoffrey Mason, a longtime TV sports producer and member of the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame, has died. He was 85.

Mason won 24 Emmys over five decades while working at ABC Sports, ESPN, NBC, Fox, the NFL Network and others. He might be best known for being the coordinating producer during the 1972 Munich Olympics.

USA Today’s Steve Gardner wrote ([link removed]) , “Mason was a central figure in the ABC Sports control room in 1972 when a Palestinian terrorist group stormed the Olympic Village in Munich and took several members of the Israeli Olympic team hostage. A standoff with police lasted for 22 hours as ABC provided riveting around-the-clock coverage that ended with a failed rescue attempt. Six Israeli coaches and five athletes died as anchor Jim McKay memorably broke the news to viewers: ‘They're all gone.’”

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** Media tidbits
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* The New York Times’ Cecilia Kang with “TikTok Settles Social Media Addiction Lawsuit Ahead of a Landmark Trial.” ([link removed])
* Deadline’s Jake Kanter with “BBC News Closes Social Media Investigations Unit After 13 Years.” ([link removed])
* The Washington Post’s Drew Harwell and Scott Nover with “Outrage over ICE has spilled into typically apolitical online spaces.” ([link removed])
* For Columbia Journalism Review, Lucy Schiller with “The Fight over AI at McClatchy.” ([link removed])
* Awful Announcing’s Sam Neumann with “Lessons from 10 years of The Athletic.” ([link removed])


** Hot type
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* The Los Angeles Times’ Rachel Brodsky writes about the reality TV star in “Spencer Pratt knows you love to hate him. Now he wants to lead Los Angeles.” ([link removed])
* Town & Country has a series of stories in its upcoming February issue about the Kennedy family. Start with this story by Elizabeth Beller about the late John Kennedy Jr. and his wife, Carolyn Bessette in “Inside Camelot’s Final Fairy Tale—and Why It Matters Now.” ([link removed]) While there, check out some of the other stories in this issue, including Joanna Molloy with “Confessions of the Gossip Reporter Who Lived Next Door to John F. Kennedy Jr.” ([link removed])


** More resources for journalists
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* Get the skills, policies, and editorial support to cover crime with depth, accuracy, and public service in mind. Apply now ([link removed]) .
* Reporters and editors with ambition to do investigative journalism: Get guidance from ProPublica’s Alexandra Zayas in this five-week, hands-on seminar. Enroll today ([link removed]) .
* New managers: Get the critical skills you need to help forge successful paths to leadership in journalism, media and technology. Apply now ([link removed]) .

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

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