CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss revealed her vision for the struggling news outlet Tuesday, saying she wants to expand its footprint beyond television — and shot down accusations she was “pressured” to shelve a controversial “60 Minutes” piece last month.
During a town hall meeting with staffers, Weiss denied the Trump administration or her boss David Ellison, the CEO of CBS’ parent company Paramount Skydance, had urged her to yank a “60 Minutes” segment on El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison.
“I want to say this as plainly as and clearly as possible: I was not pressured by David Ellison or anyone else,” Weiss said during the Q&A portion of the closed-door meeting at CBS News’ Broadcasting Center in New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood.
According to a transcript of the town hall obtained by The Post, she said the “only conversations” she’s had with Ellison since before she joined the network were “conversations about fairness.”
He “never” saw anything about the segment before it aired, Weiss added.
The politically charged bidding war between Paramount and Netflix to buy Warner Bros. Discovery has loomed in the background of Weiss’ stewardship of CBS News.
Since losing out last year, Paramount has been trying to block Netflix from acquiring the media giant. The White House has supported Paramount’s CEO and his dad Larry Ellison, a billionaire and major Trump backer, as The Post previously reported.
Meanwhile, “60 Minutes” correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi claimed in a leaked internal memo that Weiss’ decision to shelve the CECOT piece was “politically motivated.” The segment wound up running earlier this month with a handful of changes.
Weiss opened Tuesday’s town hall by telling employees she wants to “earn their trust” as she remakes CBS News.
“I’m not going to stand up here today and ask you for your trust. I’m going to earn it like we have to do with our viewers,” she said, adding that she was hired to “make CBS News fit for purpose in the 21st century.”
“We have to look honestly at ourselves. We are not producing a product that enough people want,” Weiss added.
She said the network needs to stop operating as “fiefdoms” in order to win — alluding to the longtime MO for various CBS News shows.
“60 Minutes” has typically operated as its own unit and answered only to the executive producer, who runs the show and keeps its programming and journalism under wraps until it airs.
As reported by The Post, Weiss has worked to change that culture — a point of contention inside the decades-old show. At the town hall, she revealed she wants to extend the “60 Minutes” brand beyond the TV show on Sunday.
Sources close to Weiss — who sold her startup The Free Press to Paramount Skydance for $150 million as she joined CBS News last year — said that could include live events and podcasts.
During the town hall, Weiss said she wants to amp up the network’s reporting across platforms and shows, giving the example of a story beginning as a video on CBSNews.com and YouTube and then being featured the following day on the “Evening News” and “CBS Mornings” — finally airing in a more in-depth fashion on “60 Minutes.”
“We create the wave and then we ride it,” Weiss said — noting that “transformation” in the industry will “mean transformation” in the workforce.
She did not say how many layoffs could be in the works after CBS News fired about 100 staffers in October.
She also said she wants to invest in more “revelatory journalism” and emphasize “investigative scoops,” as well as monetizing journalism with paywalls and subscription options.
She said in order to do that, she will work closely with CBS News president Tom Cibrowski, senior vice president of editorial and stations Wendy Fisher, managing editor Charles Forelle, deputy editor Adam Rubenstein and senior vice president of newsgathering Terri Stewart.
Weiss said she is adding 19 new contributors to the fold, including conservative historian Sir Niall Ferguson, podcasters Andrew Huberman and Peter Attia, and Patrick McGee, who specializes in tech and China and is a contributor to Weiss’ The Free Press.
Other contributors include chef Clare de Boer, physician Mark Hyman, author Caroline Chambers, Casey Lewis, who has a Substack about emerging trends in youth culture, and former National Security Adviser HR McMaster.
