\n<\/p>\n
CBS News staffers are coming to terms with the news that controversial commentator Bari Weiss is their new editor in chief, as the storied network\u2019s owner Paramount Skydance acquires her Substack-based publication the Free Press in a reported $150m deal.<\/p>\n
In conversations with the Guardian, six current network employees who were not authorized to comment publicly expressed a mixture of apprehension, skepticism and frustration over the appointment, though several stressed they wanted to wait to see what it would really mean for their network \u2013 and themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cA throwing up emoji is not enough of a reflection of the feelings in here,\u201d one particularly incensed CBS News employee said in a text message.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s utterly depressing. Somebody who has zero experience in television news or even hard news for that matter… but with a clearly defined political agenda,\u201d said another staffer. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to see this as anything more than an attempt to bend the knee completely.\u201d<\/p>\n
They added: \u201cIt\u2019s early days and we don\u2019t know exactly how it\u2019s going to pan out \u2026 or what she will do with her role, but she is the last person who should be brought in to CBS.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been 18 months of lurching through reported mergers, legal threat, lawsuits, settlements, firings, yet another round of new leaders,\u201d said a third CBS News employee. \u201cHere we go again \u2013 having to introduce and prove ourselves to new leaders with more perceptions and less actual understanding of the ebbs and flows of this organization.\u201d<\/p>\n
Weiss did not participate in the network\u2019s daily 9am editorial call on Monday, though CBS News president Tom Cibrowski, who will stay on and work with Weiss, said she would attend future meetings.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe room looked pretty stone-faced,\u201d an employee who participated said. Cibrowski, an ABC News veteran who only recently took over as president, told employees that they could contact him directly with questions.<\/p>\n
Weiss, who carved out a reputation as a provocative opinion writer and burgeoning media operator, has no experience working in broadcast television. David Ellison, the CEO of Paramount and son of billionaire tech mogul Larry Ellison, said her appointment was designed to help make CBS News \u201cthe most trusted name in news\u201d.<\/p>\n
Weiss \u201cbrings a passion for reaching broad audiences through rigorous, fact-based reporting and a relentless commitment to amplifying voices from all corners of the spectrum\u201d, David Ellison assured CBS News employees on Monday, hailing her \u201crestless desire to build, believe, and innovate\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m in mostly in wait and see mode,\u201d a fifth staffer told the Guardian. \u201cPessimistic and skeptical, but willing to see what she does.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat being said\u201d, they added, \u201cthe price tag is pretty indefensible\u201d as the newsroom braces for a fresh round of cuts.<\/p>\n
The news network\u2019s rank-and-file has been grappling with sustained uncertainty at the top for more than a year. Newsroom leaders have come and gone, and network parent company Paramount recently faced criticism for paying $16m to settle a lawsuit filed by Donald Trump, who had claimed a pre-election interview with the Democratic candidate for president, Kamala Harris, was falsely edited. Many legal experts had widely dismissed the lawsuit as \u201cmeritless\u201d and unlikely to hold up under the first amendment.<\/p>\n
The unusual structure built around Weiss\u2019s new position has also raised eyebrows. She will report directly to Ellison, rather than Cibrowski or George Cheeks, who leads Paramount\u2019s TV business.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is still unclear to me how she is going to actually work,\u201d a former CBS News insider said. \u201cI am not sure there is any other network that has this structure. It is unclear to me \u2026 exactly how she is going to wield this power.\u201d<\/p>\n
A sixth current CBS News employee said they are curious to see whether Weiss makes any critical editorial appointments. \u201cRuling by edict from the top won\u2019t be enough to change things,\u201d the person said. \u201cShe\u2019ll need lieutenants in the trenches cracking whips over our heads.\u201d<\/p>\n
Weiss, in her own memo to CBS News staffers, said she plans to spend the next few days and weeks getting to know them. \u201cI want to hear from you about what\u2019s working, what isn\u2019t, and your thoughts on how we can make CBS News the most trusted news organization in America and the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ending on a magnanimous note, Weiss wrote: \u201cI\u2019m profoundly honored to join you \u2013 and I can\u2019t wait to get started.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CBS News staffers are coming to terms with the news that controversial commentator Bari Weiss is their new editor in chief, as the storied network\u2019s owner Paramount Skydance acquires her Substack-based publication the Free Press in a reported $150m deal. In conversations with the Guardian, six current network employees who were not authorized to comment<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26649,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[5310,4699,15970,15759,3501,150,7030,281,15969,15758],"class_list":{"0":"post-26648","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-bari","9":"tag-cbs","10":"tag-depressing","11":"tag-editorinchief","12":"tag-named","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-react","15":"tag-staffers","16":"tag-utterly","17":"tag-weiss"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26648\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}