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A year ago, it was Bari Weiss what kind of arrogance His “anti-woke” digital outlet, The Free Press, CBS News obtained leaked audio recordings of the meetings, and quotes from unidentified employees, between results On anchor Tony Dokoupil’s combative interview with renowned author Ta-Nehisi Coates.
But as the new editor-in-chief of CBS News — and focused on less-than-flattering reports — Weiss now wants to crack down on leaks and identify staffers who Sharing details of internal editorial calls With other news organizations.
The New York Times, where Weiss was once a columnist, said, “Now in a powerful position at the network, Ms. Weiss is worried about leaks.” informedAccording to three people familiar with his comments, “He complained that his comments at private CBS meetings kept coming up in media reports, asking whether the company could identify the leakers.”
A senior CBS News employee told Independent Given The Free Press’s previous leak-based reporting about the network, Weiss’s pursuit of the leakers was “highly ironic”. Another CBS News employee called his effort to out the leakers “hilarious.”
Independent CBS News and Weiss have reached out for comment.
Even before Paramount President David Ellison Weiss as top editor of the Tiffany Network, and bought it “Heterodox” website For $150 million, many CBS employees had expressed serious reservations about her potential rule over a large broadcast news operation.
“It’s not a good place to be right now,” said a CBS News staffer. told Independent, Days before Weiss was officially appointed“There was a proper way to do it and there wasn’t a proper way, and they’re doing it in a non-proper way, and that’s probably intentional.”
Once Weiss was announced as the editorial leader of the news division – while he was also CEO and editor-in-chief of the Free Press – reporters and staffers spoke out collectively to several media publications about the behind-the-scenes environment at CBS News. He also provided copies of staff-wide memos and transcripts of news calls and meetings.
Weiss’s first editorial meeting after one included “Sorkinesque” call to journalistic armsMany employees told Independent He The staff were literally rolling their eyes On his “cringey” rally cry.
A few days later, when she sent an email requesting all CBS News employees to provide her with a memo detailing their work day, Insiders reported this. compared to Weiss’s request On the instructions of Elon Musk while working for the Trump administration at the Department of Government Efficiency.
As the Times previously noted, Weiss — a self-described “radical centrist” who has Long warned about the excesses of the “woke left” – The Free Press Leaked recording published Last year an internal CBS News editorial meeting took place. that meeting focused on Internal reaction to Dokopil’s interview With Coates, where the news anchor claimed that the author’s book on Israel’s dealings with Palestinians “wouldn’t be out of place in an extremist’s bag.”
In Multiple Free Press articlesIncluding anonymous quotes and leaked details, Weiss – who labels herself “Zionist fundamentalist” — and others at the outlet took aim at CBS News’ rebuke of Dokoupil over the interview, claiming it showed the network had an anti-Israel bias.
A CBS source said, “There are some people at CBS who think that ‘Israel’s existence as a state should be part of a fair conversation.’ written in one piece“Can you imagine journalists having conversations like this about another country?”
In 2020, shortly before he resigned as an opinion editor and writer at The New York Times due to the “liberal environment”, Wes Live-tweeted the heated internal meeting The incident occurred at the newspaper over its decision to publish a controversial op-ed by Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton.
The comparison of Weiss’s leaning on the CBS News leaks last year to portray the network negatively, and demanding that those leaks stop now that she is in charge of the network, has not been lost on the newsroom.
“Extremely ironic that Weiss is moaning about leakers at the time she leaked the audio of our 9am editorial on Dokoupil, and now she’s expecting it to be a safe place after making it vulnerable herself?” the senior CBS News staffer asked rhetorically.
The same source claimed that Weiss initially “loved all the media attention and seeing his name everywhere” after his appointment was announced. However, with the headlines becoming increasingly critical, “she now wants the ‘leakers’ to be locked up or fired.”
Ultimately, as the insider pointed out, Weiss should have fully expected this position at CBS, given the turmoil that has rocked the news division over the past few years.
“If she took 5 seconds to learn anything about CBS News before she joined, she would know that it has gone through so much change and turmoil over the last 5 years, literally since Charlie Rose’s #metoo firing, that it has become one of the most leaky news divisions in America — including her,” the employee said, referring to the veteran journalist being fired from the morning news agency following sexual misconduct allegations. Referring to ousting as host.
This was largely repeated by another network reporter, who reported Independent Weiss’s sale of his Substack-based website likely would not have been possible if it were not for his CBS stories.
The reporter said, “Hilarious. He’s literally a millionaire because he used leaked audio to help get David Ellison’s attention.” “This place is more leaky than the Titanic. Good luck plugging all the holes.”
Apart from the Dokopil kerfuffle, the editorial board of The Free Press CBS News also taken to task end last October 60 minutes’ Its editing of an interview with Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris prompted President Donald Trump to sue the network for allegedly interfering in the 2024 election.
In an op-ed, The Free Press accused the network of doing “Betrayed” requesting 60 minutes Release of complete, unedited interviews and transcripts. CBS News said it had followed the network’s standard editing practices and that the president’s allegations were unfounded.
Ultimately, parent company Paramount agreed to pay $16 million to settle the lawsuit, just weeks before the Trump administration approved the company’s $8 billion merger with Ellison’s Skydance Media. Amid efforts to finalize its merger, Paramount reached settlement talks with Trump’s legal team. had to resign as a result Of many newsroom leaders and executives.
Beyond the leaks, a growing question among CBS News staffers is how Weiss plans to balance her duties as leader of the free press and the network’s editorial chief.
“In the two weeks since she worked at the network, Ms. Weiss has not promoted any CBS News articles or reporting on her X account, which has 1.1 million followers. She added her CBS title to her X bio on Friday,” new York Times told,
The Times said, “As the Middle East peace deal unfolded, Ms. Weiss shared several pro-Israel opinions with The Free Press, and wrote an editorial saying that Zoharan Mamdani, the Democratic candidate for mayor of New York City, had failed the ‘Hamas test.'”
“CBS News declined to comment on whether Ms. Weiss’s expression of strong opinions on major news events is against its ethics rules, or belies CBS News’s efforts to appear non-partisan.”
As for Weiss’s hope that the company would be able to keep internal communications private, it was quite clear on Monday that leaks would continue after Paramount executives Jeff Shell and George Cheeks shared an email sent to employees.Independent and other media outlets.
In the memorandum, the officers explained in detail about the role of Kenneth Weinstein, the new CBS News ombudsmanThat would allow Weiss to potentially “recommend and implement appropriate next steps” regarding any “bias complaints” on the network.