No wonder Bari Weiss now has a six-man protection squad at the Tiffany Titanic.
David Ellison spent $150 million to acquire The Free Press and to put its founder and editor in charge of CBS News. He clearly wants a change in direction for the bottom-ranked (and previously bottom-feeding) broadcast news outlet. Weiss started off the new era by asking employees to identify what they did for a living, while at the same time informing them that CBS News would actually produce news reporting, as opposed to narrative curation for the progressive elite.
As part of that new mission, Weiss has begun to clean house and restore some reportorial credibility. She has reached out to recently departed Catherine Herridge, who got pushed out over a planned interview with Elon Musk in 2023. Weiss canned the head of their Standards & Practices unit, Claudia Milne, who reportedly drove that decision, and who had been described as "part of the woke mob at CBS."
However, according to Oliver Darcy, Weiss may make her boldest move yet -- by poaching the face of Fox News as the new CBS News anchor:
In her first month as editor in chief of CBS News, Bari Weiss has wasted no time making her presence felt at the now David Ellison-owned outlet. She’s lunched with the network’s top executives and anchors, issued an Elon Musk–style directive ordering employees to send her memos outlining their roles ahead of looming layoffs, and even inserted herself into the network’s daily booking process, personally phoning up guests and offering guidance on coverage priorities.
At the same time, Weiss has begun recruiting allies for the network. She tapped Adam Rubenstein, a trusted confidante and fellow New York Times alum, to serve as her deputy editor. She reached out to Catherine Herridge, as we first reported, speaking with the conservative reporter who was ousted from the network last year. And she’s begun quietly canvassing the industry for a fresh face to helm the “CBS Evening News,” a marquee role that would put her stamp on the network’s flagship broadcast.
In addition to eyeing internal candidates for the job, such as Norah O'Donnell and Tony Dokoupil, Weiss has also expressed interest in a handful of external candidates, including a name sure to raise eyebrows across the media world: Fox News anchor Bret Baier.
The rest of the report is paywalled, but that's plenty. Weiss has hit the ground running and has already completely reimagined CBS News, perhaps the first time in decades anyone has even questioned its orientation. Bernie Goldberg wrote his seminal book Bias in 2001 based on his experiences with the outlet's political bias, at the time mainly manifested in unconscious bubble-thought. Bernie has later expressed that he believes that intentional bias is now much more prevalent at CBS News, or was, before Weiss' arrival.
Mediaite's David Gilmour picks up on this story, noting that Weiss has taken an interest in Fox News' approach and personnel before now, although this is her boldest move yet:
Baier, who earns roughly $14 million a year and has long been considered Fox News’s most polished Beltway anchor, extended his contract in 2023 through 2028, Darcy pointed out, making an immediate move improbable.
Weiss’s pursuit of the Fox News anchor is not the first time she’s tried to secure the services of someone already under contract with Fox, in her early days as CBS News boss. The newly-minted EIC tried to get former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo — a Fox News contributor under contract — to appear on a recent panel with other former Secretaries of State, despite Pompeo’s exclusivity to Fox. That effort failed, and the panel discussion proceeded without him.
Baier's contract would be a formidable obstacle, but not an impossible one. It would depend on the amount of cash Weiss and Ellison would be willing to throw at Baier, and perhaps how much control, too. The need for some demonstration of fairness to a deeply skeptical public could make such a gesture worth the cost, especially for the novelty value in the very beginning. Apart from all of that, Baier is also an excellent and fair-minded journalist and anchor, which he has proven time and again at Fox News. He has followed in the footsteps of his predecessor Brit Hume, and Baier makes Special Report a throwback to an earlier time in network news -- when the stories more than the spin mattered.
Plus: the internal freak-out at the Tiffany Titanic would be absolutely amazing. There would not be enough popcorn in the world for spectators to the meltdown.
Alas, though, the prospect is unlikely -- and Baier already does great work at Fox News. Weiss may have to look elsewhere to find someone with the standing to take control of the evening news and deliver the message that facts and credibility will be the central mission for the Weiss era at CBS News. With that in mind, why not give Herridge a chance? A return from woke exile to taking the reins would be a statement in itself -- and a reflection of Weiss' own journey in the Protection Racket Media.
Editor's Note: The mainstream media continues to deflect, gaslight, spin, and lie about President Trump, his administration, and conservatives.
Help us continue to expose their left-wing bias by reading news you can trust. Join Hot Air VIP, VIP Gold, or VIP Platinum, and use promo code POTUS47 to get 74% off your membership!
Join the conversation as a VIP Member