Who Is Bari Weiss? Cbs News' New Editor-in-chief Is A Vocal Critic Of Legacy Media - Beritaja

The Free Press' Bari Weiss, pictured interviewing Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, astatine an arena successful January, has been named the caller editor-in-chief of CBS News. Leigh Vogel/Getty Images

Leigh Vogel/Getty Images

Paramount announced Monday that it is acquiring The Free Press — a provocative news tract known for criticizing mainstream media and left-leaning "woke" civilization — and installing the publication's co-founder, Bari Weiss, arsenic the caller editor-in-chief of CBS News.

"As of today, I americium editor-in-chief of CBS News, moving pinch caller colleagues connected the programs that person impacted American civilization for generations — shows for illustration 60 Minutes and Sunday Morning — and shaping really millions of Americans read, listen, watch, and, about importantly, understand the news successful the 21st century," Weiss wrote successful a Monday letter to readers.

It's a important measurement successful the meteoric emergence of the 41-year-old journalist and entrepreneur, who spent years arsenic an op-ed editor astatine the Wall Street Journal and New York Times earlier her emphatic disavowal of accepted media organizations.

Weiss near the Times in 2020 aft galore successful the newsroom expressed outrage complete its publication of a arguable op-ed by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, successful which he called for a subject consequence to protests complete George Floyd's murder. In a lengthy resignation letter, Weiss accused her colleagues of harassment and based on that the Times was excessively influenced by its left-leaning critics online.

Weiss, on pinch her sister Suzy Weiss and her spouse Nellie Bowles, started The Free Press arsenic a newsletter (originally titled Common Sense) the pursuing year, calling it a "new media institution … built connected the ideals that erstwhile were the bedrock of awesome American journalism: honesty, doggedness, and fierce independence."

The Free Press developed into a full-fledged media institution successful 2022, expanding its offerings into podcasts and unrecorded events. Its investigations and commentaries mostly scrutinize governmental and taste issues for illustration gender-affirming wellness care, COVID-19 lockdowns, DEI programs and J.K. Rowling's anti-trans views.

It's wherever then-BERITAJA editor Uri Berliner published his essay arguing the nationalist power web had mislaid America's spot (he joined The Free Press arsenic a elder editor specified months later). The publication, for illustration Weiss herself, is besides known for its staunchly pro-Israel views, particularly successful the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks and Israel's ensuing warfare successful Gaza.

The Free Press has built a sizable following. It has grown its subscriber guidelines by 86% complete the past twelvemonth to a full of 1.5 cardinal people, according to Paramount, and is backed by a slew of large names, including task capitalist Marc Andreessen, hedge money tycoon Paul Marshall and erstwhile Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz.

"As proud arsenic we are of the 1.5 cardinal subscribers who person joined nether the banner of The Free Press — and we are astonished astatine that number — this is simply a state pinch 340 cardinal people. We want our activity to scope much of them, arsenic quickly arsenic possible," Weiss wrote connected Monday. "This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity allows america to do that."

The Free Press says it will clasp its ain marque and operations. And, arsenic BERITAJA has reported, Weiss — who has nary broadcasting acquisition — appears improbable to tally the news section astatine CBS News connected a day-to-day basis.

But she will play a cardinal domiciled successful shaping the network's editorial direction, astatine a clip erstwhile it is looking to grow its entreaty among right-leaning viewers. When Skydance Media acquired Paramount, CBS' genitor company, successful July — a merger that required Trump management approval — it promised to clasp a diverseness of governmental and ideological viewpoints.

"Bari is simply a proven champion of independent, opinionated journalism, and I americium assured her entrepreneurial thrust and editorial imagination will invigorate CBS News," Skydance Media CEO David Ellison said successful a statement, calling the move "part of Paramount's bigger imagination to modernize contented and the measurement it connects … to audiences about the world."

Here's what other to cognize about Weiss.

What is Weiss' background? 

Weiss grew up successful a Jewish family successful Pittsburgh and had her Bat Mitzvah astatine the Tree of Life Synagogue — agelong earlier the 2018 wide shooting that made it the tract of the deadliest antisemitic onslaught successful U.S. history.

Weiss attended Columbia University (where, she says, she dated early Saturday Night Live prima Kate McKinnon). As a sophomore, Weiss was part of a group of Jewish students who challenged the assemblage to respond to what they perceived arsenic anti-Israel intelligence intimidation successful its Mideast studies department.

While a assemblage sheet yet concluded location was nary ongoing problem successful the department, the incident gained nationalist prominence and prompted Columbia to revise its process for reviewing complaints against faculty.

It was besides a formative acquisition for Weiss, who became the founding editor of a field mag dedicated to politics, civilization and Jewish affairs — and went connected to constitute a book called How to Fight Anti-Semitism, which was published successful 2019.

After college, Weiss worked arsenic a elder editor astatine the online Jewish life mag Tablet earlier joining the Wall Street Journal successful 2013 arsenic an op-ed and book reappraisal editor. She near successful 2017, aft President Trump took office. She later told Reason that she near the occupation successful portion because of her employer's guidance to governmental op-eds that were "too anti-Trump."

"It was heartbreaking for maine to spot group who I thought that we benignant of shared basal values making bid pinch a campaigner who, I mean, conscionable from the about basal position ran a run connected denigrating and demonizing the weakest group successful our culture," Weiss told the magazine.

The New York Times hired Weiss arsenic a unit editor and writer successful the sentiment conception successful 2017, arsenic portion of its stated efforts to broaden ideological diverseness successful its op-ed pages, past led by James Bennet.

"I've gone successful the past twelvemonth from being the about progressive personification astatine The Wall Street Journal, to being the about right-winged personification astatine The New York Times," Weiss told the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle later that year.

Many of Weiss' Times columns garnered contention — for illustration a 2017 defense of taste appropriation, a 2018 defense of comedian Aziz Ansari aft he faced #MeToo accusations, a portion questioning whether intersexual battle allegations against then-Supreme Court justness nominee Brett Kavanaugh should beryllium disqualifying and a 2018 onslaught connected wide intolerance titled "We're All Fascists Now."

But the biggest backlash came successful June 2020, aft the Times ran the op-ed by Cotton — the Republican legislator — calling for the subject to respond to Black Lives Matter protests pinch an "overwhelming show of force." Hundreds of Times staffers signed a missive protesting the piece, which an editor's statement later said "fell short of our standards and should not person been published." Bennet resigned wrong days.

Weiss, who defended the op-ed's publication, tweeted about the fallout arsenic a "civil warfare wrong The New York Times betwixt the (mostly young wokes) [and] the (mostly 40+) liberals" — a characterization that galore of her colleagues pushed backmost on. In July 2020, Weiss resigned successful a about 1,500-word missive to the paper's publisher, citing "bullying by colleagues" and an "illiberal environment."

"The insubstantial of grounds is, much and more, the grounds of those surviving successful a distant galaxy, 1 whose concerns are profoundly removed from the lives of about people," she wrote. "Nowadays, opinionated up for rule astatine the insubstantial does not triumph plaudits. It puts a target connected your back."

Bari Weiss walks backstage astatine a unrecorded arena successful Los Angeles successful September 2023. Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

How does Weiss place politically? 

The Free Press frames its sum arsenic anti-woke and has made its sanction by criticizing mainstream institutions and experts successful industries from media to nationalist health. But it has been comparatively measured successful its position of the Trump administration, occasionally publishing captious pieces and about precocious objecting to its "coercion" of ABC to suspend Jimmy Kimmel's show.

Even arsenic Weiss has made a sanction for herself successful portion by lambasting progressive culture, her ain governmental views person been somewhat difficult to pin down.

Over the years, she has described herself arsenic a "radical centrist" and a "Jewish, center-left-on-most-things-person." In a 2024 TED Talk, she said she voted for Republican statesmanlike campaigner Mitt Romney successful 1 election, and Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden successful others.

She went connected to qualify her ideological views arsenic pro-choice, pro-Israel and pro-gay marriage, "so overmuch truthful that I'm really successful 1 myself." (Weiss joined Bowles, a erstwhile Times tech reporter, successful 2021 — the aforesaid twelvemonth they cofounded The Free Press — and they person 2 children together.)

But she besides acknowledged that she is simply a predominant target of disapproval from chap liberals.

"I am, aliases astatine slightest … I utilized to be, considered a standard-issue liberal," Weiss said successful the aforesaid speech. "And yet somehow, successful our about intelligence and prestigious spaces, galore of the ideas I conscionable outlined and others for illustration them, person go provocative aliases controversial, which is really a polite measurement of saying unwelcome, beyond the pale, moreover bigoted aliases racist."

Why is she returning to bequest media? 

In Weiss' announcement letter, she acknowledges that galore group whitethorn beryllium wondering: "Why fly The New York Times only to caput backmost into different bequest institution?"

She says that while she was "raised to beryllium a believer successful the institutions that built America and that made consciousness of it," she recovered successful 2020 that "the about important nationalist conversations were happening extracurricular of those places."

Things look different 5 years later, Weiss writes, "as the gatekeepers of the mainstream person grounded 1 aft another" and caller voices — including podcasters and influencers — person travel to predominate the media landscape.

Weiss paints a image of 2 progressively powerful extremes — "an America-loathing acold left" and a "history-erasing acold right" — and says the mostly of "smart, politically mixed, pragmatic Americans" who autumn location successful betwixt are not being good served. She pitches Paramount's clasp of The Free Press arsenic a measurement to alteration that.

"The values that we've hammered retired present complete the years — publicity based successful curiosity and honesty, a civilization of patient disagreement, our shared belief successful America's committedness — now person the opportunity to spell very, very big," Weiss writes.

In a note to CBS News staffers obtained by Axios connected Monday, Weiss laid retired the 10 principles that she says person and will proceed to guideline her journalism.

Those see holding "both American governmental parties to adjacent scrutiny," embracing "a wide spectrum of views and voices truthful that the assemblage could contend pinch the champion arguments connected each sides of a debate" and respecting "our assemblage capable to show the truth plainly — wherever it leads."