Bari Weiss Still Thinks It's 2020

"Weiss casts herself as an independent thinker. She has described herself at various times as a left-leaning centrist, a moderate liberal, "politically homeless," a "radical centrist," and a conservative. She has defined her ideology as a visceral hatred of bullies. A hatred of bullying may have plausibly explained her decision in 2020 to quit the New York Times opinion section, where her criticism of left-wing pieties made her deeply unpopular and the subject of relentless attacks from colleagues."

"When Weiss left the Times, many established media outlets were at least contemplating abandoning their traditional standards of objectivity in favor of a crusading progressive spirit. Such ideological hegemony inspired a flourishing of independent journalism from the center and center-left on Substack (see Matthew Yglesias, Andrew Sullivan, and others) and in podcasts (Katie Herzog, Jesse Singal, and others). The Free Press joined this rebellion from a more conservative perspective."

Bari Weiss became editor in chief of CBS News and pledged to uphold traditional ideals of objectivity and rigor. Weiss has described herself variously as a left-leaning centrist, a moderate liberal, "politically homeless," a "radical centrist," and a conservative, and she defines her ideology as a visceral hatred of bullies. That hatred plausibly explained her 2020 resignation from the New York Times opinion section after criticism of left-wing pieties provoked relentless colleague attacks and helped prompt her to co-found The Free Press. The Free Press filled a niche by publishing conservative-leaning stories often ignored by mainstream outlets during a period when independent center and center-left journalism flourished on Substack and in podcasts. Cultural conditions have since shifted, with the era of progressive institutions disciplining dissent peaking five years ago and new political threats emerging.

Read at The Atlantic