Bari Weiss at CBS News: A year of drama and challenges as she attempts to revamp the Tiffany Network
CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss. (Michele Crowe/CBS News via Getty Images)
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It has been a tumultuous year for CBS News as the network has been rocked by ownership changes and a polarizing new boss.
Last October, then-newly minted Paramount owner David Ellison tapped Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief of CBS News as part of his $150 million purchase of her outlet The Free Press.
What has unfolded over the past year is a revolving door of talent, newsroom clashes and a continuous ratings decline.
BARI WEISS BEING NAMED TOP CBS NEWS EDITOR CAUSES LIBERAL MEDIA TO MELTDOWN
Bari Weiss was formally named editor-in-chief of CBS News in October 2025 after her outlet, The Free Press, was acquired by Paramount. (Noam Galai/Getty Images for The Free Press)
A New Order
The battle lines seemed to have been drawn even before Weiss stepped foot inside the CBS newsroom. Her appointment came on the heels of Ellison's $8 billion takeover of Paramount, which critics believe only received the FCC's blessing after Paramount settled President Donald Trump's "60 Minutes" lawsuit for $16 million. Ellison and his billionaire father, Larry Ellison, are perceived as having a cozy relationship with Trump, fueling fear among liberals that he would turn CBS News into MAGA TV.
Weiss, who launched The Free Press following her dramatic exit from The New York Times, had been branded by her critics as an anti-woke conservative despite having more heterodox views. When she was appointed by Ellison, she quickly embraced his mission to appeal to the "70%" in the political center rather than the fringes on the left and right.
Still, that hasn't stopped outlets such as the left-wing blog The Daily Beast from branding the new CBS chief as being "MAGA-coded."
Newsroom clashes
Weiss has been a very hands-on editor according to multiple leaked reports, some of which spiraled into contentious newsroom battles.
Her first big clash came last December with Sharyn Alfonsi, then a "60 Minutes" correspondent who was set to air a report on the notorious El Salvador prison CECOT but was temporarily shelved at the last minute by Weiss. Weiss insisted at the time that the report wasn't ready and that it needed a voice from the Trump administration, while Alfonsi accused her of playing politics. Liberal critics attacked Weiss, alleging she was trying to censor a report critical of Trump. The segment ultimately aired in January.
Last month, Status reported that Weiss had clashed with veteran correspondent Lesley Stahl during the editing process of a "60 Minutes" segment about Israeli settler violence in the West Bank. The dispute allegedly became so heated that Stahl "privately floated" quitting. A CBS spokesperson called the report "ludicrous."
According to Semafor, two CBS News staffers were reportedly upset when Weiss urged journalists to investigate the Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed's alleged family ties to the Muslim Brotherhood when the controversy erupted. Additionally, a leaked recording from a meeting captured CBS News correspondent Holly Williams having a heated exchange with Weiss' hand-picked foreign editor Shayndi Raice over the network's coverage of Israel and the Oct. 7 terrorist attack, with Raice invoking "legal grounds for firing" and "insubordination" if staff didn't fall in line with the top brass.
Anonymous CBS News employees have frequently aired complaints about Weiss to media reporters during her tenure.
CBS News staffers have repeatedly shared complaints about Bari Weiss with media reporters during her tenure. (Al Drago/Getty Images)
The "60 Minutes" overhaul
Perhaps the most affected CBS News program under Weiss has been "60 Minutes."
In May, the network shocked the media landscape when it announced several firings, including "60 Minutes" executive producer Tanya Simon and correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega. Weiss also tapped documentary filmmaker and former New York Times columnist Nick Bilton to replace Simon as the show's top producer.
CBS NEWS FIRES '60 MINUTES' CORRESPONDENTS, TOP PRODUCER IN SWEEPING SHAKEUP OF STORIED PROGRAM
"60 Minutes" correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega as well as "60 Minutes executive producer Tanya Simon were fired as part of a major overhaul of the CBS News program. (Michele Crowe/CBS News©2025 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved)
Tensions further escalated when veteran correspondent Scott Pelley lashed out against Bilton and Weiss at an all-staff meeting days later, where he accused Weiss of "murdering" the storied newsmagazine program and bluntly told Bilton, who has no linear television experience, that he had "slender qualifications" for his new role. That led to Pelley's own termination.
With the exit of Anderson Cooper in February, "60 Minutes" suddenly lost four of its seven correspondents.
SCOTT PELLEY FIRED AT CBS NEWS AFTER BLOWUPS WITH BARI WEISS, NEW '60 MINUTES' PRODUCER
Scott Pelley was fired after lashing out at new "60 Minutes" executive producer Nick Bilton during a staff meeting. (David M. Russell/CBS via Getty Images)
Weiss and Bilton announced in July that they had poached New York Times columnist Ross Douthat and tapped CBS veteran Norah O'Donnell as new "60 Minutes" correspondents, along with several contributors who would join Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim.
Despite all the reported drama, the new season of "60 Minutes" has closely resembled the program viewers have been used to, except for minor cosmetic changes to graphics and the new personalities leading the reports. And while the show nabbed big exclusives — including interviews with the Air Force service member who was rescued out of Iran earlier this year and the ex-husband of Lindsay Clancy — it didn't result in any major ratings bump as trend lines continue to be unfavorable to "60 Minutes."
BARI WEISS POACHES CONSERVATIVE NY TIMES COLUMNIST, OTHERS JOIN '60 MINUTES' IN CBS PROGRAM SHAKEUP
"60 Minutes" Correspondents Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker, Jon Wertheim, Norah O'Donnell and Ross Douthat with Contributors Matt Gutman, Sebastian Junger, Gianna Toboni, Trevor Phillips, and Ariel Levy and Executive Producer Nick Bilton. (Mark Seliger/CBS News via Getty Images)
The Revolving Door
"60 Minutes" isn't the only program to have undergone personnel changes. "CBS Evening News" co-anchors John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois exited the network after just a year at the desk.
Weiss handpicked the "CBS Mornings" co-host Tony Dokoupil to lead the evening newscast. His debut was a bit bumpy between being marred by technical difficulties and raised eyebrows for his lighthearted "salute" to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. One of his top producers was also dismissed just days into the show's reboot.
Filling Dokoupil's seat alongside Gayle King and Nate Burleson on "CBS Mornings" is Norah O'Donnell, who previously co-hosted what was then called "CBS This Morning" from 2012 to 2019.
Weiss also poached Matt Gutman from ABC News as a top correspondent for the network while CBS News reporter Scott MacFarlane headed for the exit.
Bari Weiss selected Tony Dokoupil as the new anchor of "CBS Evening News." (Michael Tessier/CBS)
The Third Place Struggle
For decades, CBS News has been the perpetual third-place broadcaster behind its rivals ABC and NBC. So it was a Herculean task for Weiss to turn things around, especially in just one year.
"CBS Mornings" is on pace to have its worst year ever, down to an average of 1.7 million viewers — a 12% drop from last year. That's far below the average 2.9 million and 2.8 million that tune in to "Today" and "Good Morning America" respectively.
"CBS Evening News" similarly came in a distant third with its 4 million average viewers, less than half of the 8.3 million who watch "World News Tonight with David Muir" and well behind 6.5 million viewers who watch "NBC Nightly News w/ Tom Llamas." The program did, however, close October with a 16% bump from October 2025.
The Tiffany Network's strongest performer, at least in direct competition with its rivals, is its marquee Sunday show "Face the Nation," maintaining its modest lead with 2.9 million average viewers, while ABC's "This Week" and NBC's "Meet The Press" average 2.69 million and 2.5 million respectively, though "Meet The Press" does lead among viewers in the advertiser-coveted demo ages 25-54 while "Face The Nation is second in that metric.
"60 Minutes," meanwhile, had its lowest-rated October performance since at least 2000, despite remaining CBS News’ most-watched show.
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"CBS Mornings" co-host Gayle King will have a new executive producer in the near future. (Michele Crowe/CBS News via Getty Images)
Weiss has had a challenging first year, and year two may have its own challenges as Paramount's parent company, Skydance, begins integrating all the properties from its $111 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery, which includes CNN.
Rumors of Ellison elevating Weiss to a role overseeing both CBS News and CNN have been put on ice for now. Industry critics remain speculative as to what Ellison has in store for his two news operations as he explores ways to cut costs throughout the company.
A spokesperson for CBS News declined to comment.
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Fox News' Brian Flood contributed to this report.
Joseph A. Wulfsohn is a media reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to joseph.wulfsohn@fox.com and on Twitter: @JosephWulfsohn.
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