CBS Is About to Hand Over Its Newsroom to an Anti-Woke Crusader. You Should Be Worried.

"On Monday morning, the Wall Street Journal confirmed that the Paramount-Skydance behemoth, headed by tech scion David Ellison, had acquired Weiss' Substack-based publication the Free Press for a $150 million valuation, about 10 times the revenue the platform brought in last year. The "anti-woke" newsletter will now join the suite of brand-name properties under the merged-media umbrella, including BET and MTV, while Weiss herself will become editor in chief of CBS News-which is about to lay off 10 percent of its very worried staff."

"The appointment gives Weiss, who has zero experience in broadcast television, the extraordinary power to shape coverage at the venerable news institution in her own image. Weiss has built a career railing against "wokeness," and her critics fear this could mean a CBS News more sympathetic to her causes: more unconditional support of Israel, more antagonism wielded at "the left," and more Crossfire-style "debates" over common bugbears like Zohran Mamdani and gender-affirming care. (Per the Journal, "CBS News plans to launch a debate-style program that Weiss will oversee that is similar to debates the Free Press streams.") Editorial changes won't be felt for a while yet, since much of the network's programming is planned far in advance, but Lachlan Cartwright reports in his Breaker Media newsletter that Weiss may "use her role to put increasing pressure on political pieces and to secure more favourable coverage of Israel." She will also remain in charge of the Free Press."

Paramount-Skydance, led by David Ellison, acquired the Free Press for a $150 million valuation, roughly ten times its prior revenue. The Free Press, described as "anti-woke," will join other brand properties like BET and MTV under the merged-media umbrella. Bari Weiss will become editor in chief of CBS News while remaining in charge of the Free Press. Weiss lacks broadcast television experience but will gain significant influence over CBS coverage, including plans for a debate-style program. Critics anticipate increased pro-Israel coverage, greater antagonism toward the left, and editorial pressure on political reporting amid impending staff layoffs.

Read at Slate Magazine