Paramount has acquired Bari Weiss’ right-leaning publication The Free Press and named its founder as editor in chief of CBS News. The Monday move makes apparent CEO David Ellison’s desire to shift the Tiffany Network’s news division in a more conservative direction.
Weiss will report directly to Ellison, who said in a statement that he was “thrilled” to welcome Weiss aboard.
“Bari is a proven champion of independent, principled journalism, and I am confident her entrepreneurial drive and editorial vision will invigorate CBS News,” he wrote. “This move is part of Paramount’s bigger vision to modernize content and the way it connects – directly and passionately – to audiences around the world.”
Financial terms were not disclosed, but insiders told TheWrap that Paramount had purchased the three-year-old website for $150 million in a cash and stock deal, an astonishing outcome for a media website that insiders estimate to generate about $14 million in revenue, mostly from subscriptions.
Weiss’ focus will be to “shape editorial priorities, champion core values across platforms and lead innovation” in CBS News’ journalism.
“This partnership allows our ethos of fearless, independent journalism to reach an enormous, diverse and influential audience,” Weiss said in a statement. “We honor the extraordinary legacy of CBS News by committing ourselves to a singular mission: building the most trusted news organization of the 21st Century.”
In a note to CBS staffers, Weiss described her family’s history with the CBS News brand and said she would spend her first few weeks on a listening tour at the network.
“I stand for the same core journalistic values that have defined this profession since the beginning, and I will continue to champion them alongside you,” she shared.
CBS News President and Executive Editor Tom Cibrowski, a well-liked executive who assumed the role in March, will remain at the organization. The two will work together, though Cibrowski will continue to report to CBS’s CEO of TV Media, George Cheeks.
Ellison told staffers in a memo on Monday that Weiss had an “incredible energy, judgment and perception for what will resonate with audiences.”
“Working alongside our exceptionally talented colleagues at CBS News, she will help ensure that our reporting remains relevant, accessible and — most importantly — trusted in this new era for American media,” he wrote.
The announcement caps Ellison’s monthslong pursuit of Weiss’ outlet, one first reported in June. It signals a significant new era for a global news operation that has traditionally pursued objectivity but has been marred by attacks from President Trump and others over coverage they’ve deemed biased and adversarial. Paramount appointed a conservative think tank veteran, Kenneth R. Weinstein, as its internal watchdog last month, just after the Ellisons took ownership of Paramount from the Redstone family.
The Free Press acquisition follows several blows to CBS News’ morale. Much of that involved Paramount’s settlement of Trump’s “60 Minutes” lawsuit, based on a flimsy claim that the editing of a Kamala Harris interview hurt his campaign. Paramount settled the lawsuit for $16 million.
TheWrap reported last month that Weiss would join CBS News in a top role.
Paramount said Weiss would remain editor and CEO of The Free Press, which will operate as a standalone outlet alongside CBS News. The website has often crusaded against policies or cultural moments it has deemed “woke,” and it has not wavered from hot-button political issues involving gender identity, Israel and Gaza and the convergence of tech and Washington.
Weiss maintains ties to controversial tech leaders, having interviewed the reclusive Palantir chairman, Peter Thiel, last year and co-hosted a pre-inauguration party in January with Elon Musk’s X.
The acquisition continues a spree of deals by the Ellison-led Paramount, which acquired the rights of UFC games; the rights to the animated satire “South Park”; and deals with filmmakers James Mangold and “Stranger Things” creators the Duffer Brothers. Ellison has also been reportedly interested in purchasing Warner Bros. Discovery, though he has yet to place a bid for the company.
