Bari Weiss Named CBS News Editor-in-Chief

On October 6, 2025, Paramount announced the acquisition of The Free Press, the subscription media company founded by Bari Weiss, for a reported $150 million. Paramount did not confirm the terms. As part of the deal, Weiss was named editor-in-chief of CBS News, a newly created position at the network.

The Acquisition

Paramount, owned by Skydance Media following a merger completed in August 2025, positioned the acquisition as bringing together CBS News’ reach with The Free Press’ subscriber-focused approach. At the time of the deal The Free Press had roughly 170,000 paying subscribers and about 1.3 million free newsletter subscribers.

New Leadership Structure

As editor-in-chief, Weiss reports directly to Paramount CEO David Ellison and partners with CBS News President Tom Cibrowski. The Free Press maintains its independent brand and operations, with Weiss continuing to lead both organizations. This marks the first time CBS News has had an editor-in-chief position.

Background and Context

Weiss, who resigned from The New York Times in 2020, founded the newsletter “Common Sense” in 2021, which became The Free Press media company. The acquisition comes after Paramount settled a $16 million defamation lawsuit with Donald Trump over a “60 Minutes” segment and follows promises by Skydance leadership to embrace diverse political viewpoints at CBS News.

Industry Impact

The appointment generated discussion within CBS News, with reports of staff concerns about the direction of the newsroom. To introduce The Free Press to broader audiences, the publication lifted its paywall for a “Free Week” from October 6-12, 2025.

Several changes followed at the news division. In late October 2025, as part of a Paramount-wide workforce reduction, nearly 100 positions were eliminated at CBS News: the streaming editions of the morning and evening newscasts were cancelled, the Johannesburg bureau was closed, and CBS Saturday Morning lost its co-hosts and executive producer. In December 2025 the network named Tony Dokoupil anchor of the CBS Evening News, beginning January 5, 2026.

Also in December 2025, Weiss pulled a 60 Minutes investigation of El Salvador’s CECOT prison the day before it was scheduled to air, saying the piece lacked context and was missing critical voices and that it “did not advance the ball” relative to earlier reporting elsewhere. Correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi wrote to colleagues that “pulling it now, after every rigorous internal check has been met, is not an editorial decision, it is a political one.” The segment was broadcast in January 2026 with minimal changes.

In May 2026 CBS News replaced 60 Minutes executive producer Tanya Simon with Nick Bilton, a technology journalist and documentarian hired from outside broadcast news; it cut ties with correspondent Cecilia Vega and did not renew Alfonsi’s contract. Correspondent Scott Pelley was fired in June 2026 after a confrontation with Bilton. Pelley said management had asked him to “inject falsehoods and bias” into a politically sensitive story, later specifying a segment on immigration enforcement protests in Minneapolis. CBS said Weiss had made four points “in the course of editorial back-and-forth” that had “no political motivation” and were “proposed solely to make the piece as strong, fair, and accurate as possible.”