If there was any doubt about the active role that Bari Weiss would play as the newly-minted editor-in-chief of CBS News, her first week at the news division put it to rest.
The day after Paramount announced its deal to acquire The Free Press, Weiss, squeezed next to CBS News president Tom Cibrowski at the head of the table for the network’s daily editorial meeting, sending a clear message that they are partners in the venture.
That meeting served as more of an introduction than an agenda-setter with Weiss telling staff that she wants CBS to “win,” but in the days since she has already begun to make a mark.
On Friday, Weiss sent a note to all CBS News staff, asking them to send a memo to her by the end of day Tuesday, outlining how they spend their time, what they are most proud of, and perhaps most significantly “your views on what’s working; what’s broken or substandard; and how we can be better.”
The note, which The Hollywood Reporter viewed (Semafor’s Max Tani first reported on it) was in some ways an opening salvo into determining her vision for a path forward, and a reminder that she intends to be actively involved in turning the ship around, despite the uncertainty that the unusual reporting structure created, in which Weiss reports to Paramount CEO David Ellison while Cibrowski reports to TV chief George Cheeks. Cibrowski, it should be noted, has been enthusiastic about the addition of Weiss in meetings with staff.
While the section in the memo asking how staff are spending their time reminded some observers of Elon Musk’s infamous memo to federal government staff earlier this year, making them justify their jobs, one CBS staffer actually thinks it may be about Weiss finding allies internally who want to see the news division make big, bold changes, hence her promise to keep replies in strict confidence.
In fact, Weiss has spent her first week in a flurry of meetings with anchors, producers and others at CBS and Paramount in New York and Washington to try and take stock of the status quo, and in turn to figure out what might need to change. According to The New York Times she booked a roundtable featuring the former Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton, Tony Blinken and Mike Pompeo (Norah O’Donnell is expected to lead it).
Inside CBS many staff were confused by the move to bring Weiss on board, unsure of how to square it with what Ellison told staff in his first day leading the company. But there was also a recognition that outside of Sundays, where 60 Minutes and Sunday Morning dominate their time periods, the news division likely needs a reset, though whether Weiss is the person to do that is a separate question.
At the Bloomberg Screentime conference Thursday, Ellison said that he wanted to rebuild the civil discourse that has been broken in the U.S., and that the ideals of fact-based reporting and a diversity of points of view that Weiss and The Free Press hold are fundamentally the same as those held by CBS.
Ultimately, however, it is about finding a path forward for a TV news organization for a world where everything is becoming TV, but where linear TV is at risk of being left behind.
“The Free Press will stay in the digital landscape, but I also think when you talk about meeting people where they are, that’s in broadcast news. That’s on the Free Press website. That’s in podcasts. It’s also going to be eventually in direct to consumer,” Ellison said. “We do want to build a home and a DTC platform … where you can get all of that in a digital environment, direct to consumer. The Free Press is an accelerant to accomplish that goal.”
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