CBS News Shakeup Includes a Young New Editor

UPDATE Oct 6, 2025 10:16 AM CDT

It's a big change for CBS News starting Monday: Parent conglomerate Paramount Skydance installed 41-year-old Bari Weiss in the newly created position of editor in chief, report Reuters and the AP. Paramount also bought the digital news site founded by Weiss, the Free Press, for about $150 million, reports the New York Times. Weiss, whose site often criticizes the "woke" left, has never worked in TV news. "Right now, I imagine you have some questions," she wrote to CBS staffers. "I do, too." She said she wanted to hear from them about what is and isn't working. "I'll approach it the way any reporter would—with an open mind, a fresh notebook and an urgent deadline." She will report to Paramount exec David Ellison and work with CBS News President Tom Cibrowski.

Oct 3, 2025 9:49 AM CDT

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.

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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.