Paramount Skydance, the newly formed media conglomerate, plans to shake up CBS News by acquiring the Free Press—an online outlet known for its contrarian edge—and appointing its founder, Bari Weiss, as editor in chief. According to sources familiar with the deal, the move will be announced on Monday, with Paramount Skydance shelling out $150 million in cash and stock for the Free Press, reports the Washington Post.
The decision signals a notable shift for the nearly century-old broadcast network, which recently faced accusations of liberal bias as its parent companies navigated an $8 billion merger finalized in August. Weiss, 41, who has built her reputation as a sharp critic of the mainstream press and a vocal defender of Israel, is set to take the network's top editorial job despite never having worked in television news.
This leadership change follows CBS News' recent hiring of a conservative-leaning ombudsman, an apparent effort to broaden the network's editorial perspective and address long-standing criticisms. Weiss, who was brought into the New York Times' opinion section in 2017 to add ideological diversity after Donald Trump was elected to his first term as president, left that job in 2020, citing a hostile work environment. She founded the Free Press the following year, per the Times. The CBS move was first reported by the New York Post, which notes that Weiss will report directly to Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, bypassing CBS News chief Tom Cibrowski.
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