No, Bari Weiss isn’t the lead Grim Reaper at CBS News, but she is making her mark elsewhere, which we’ll get to in a second. Weiss is the new editor-in-chief after the CBS parent company bought her Free Press publication, which she built from scratch following her very public departure from The New York Times. Weiss isn’t a conservative, but a classical liberal, which did not jive well with the illiberal, lefty masses of her former employer’s newsroom. She’s also pro-Israel. While Weiss will cut the fat, the deep cuts were already baked into the equation long before she was hired. $2 billion in cuts are slated, so staffers are obviously on edge (via The Guardian):
For months, CBS News staffers have been on edge waiting for a long-expected round of layoffs as part of the $2bn in cost-cutting that had been promised after parent company Paramount’s successful merger with Skydance Media.
Those cuts began on Wednesday morning and are expected to affect fewer than 100 people. The company declined to provide a specific number.
One CBS News staffer described the cuts as a “bloodbath”, saying they were wide-reaching and affected a number of departments.
As part of the cuts, the network has closed its Johannesburg bureau and is cancelling its CBS Mornings Plus and CBS Evening News Plus streaming shows. The network’s Saturday-morning program will undergo a format change, according to a source with knowledge of the changes who was not authorized to comment. The network’s race and culture unit was gutted.
One concerned CBS News staffer who was not authorized to comment described the process as “nerve-racking”. “Seems no one is safe,” the person added.
‘CBS Saturday Morning’ canceled, co-hosts Michelle Miller, Dana Jacobson are out: sources https://t.co/IMPCVMnhg7 pic.twitter.com/DtRJBYFXeR
— New York Post (@nypost) October 29, 2025
The number of those slated for termination is around 1,000. CBS Saturday Morning was axed, along with its hosts. Yet, where Weiss comes in is what she plans to do with 60 Minutes (via NY Post):
The clock may be ticking for top talent at “60 Minutes”.
CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss is looking to shake up the iconic TV news magazine — and casualties could include any number of the show’s star anchors, The Post has learned.
The 41-year-old newshound was tapped this month to restore “balance” to the Tiffany Network’s news unit, according to David Ellison, CEO of CBS owner Paramount Skydance — and insiders say she believes “60 Minutes” has drifted too far to the left, sources said.
Among Weiss’s rumored targets, according to insiders, is Scott Pelley. The anchor slammed CBS’s then owner Paramount in an on-air tirade this summer for inking a $16 million settlement with President Trump over allegations that “60 Minutes” “deceptively edited a Kamala Harris interview.
Likewise, Bill Whitaker, the correspondent who conducted the controversial Harris interview, may also be in the crosshairs after he was criticized for throwing softball questions and not vetting what was aired, sources said.
“Bari isn’t wrong to try to bring in new people,” said a CBS source, noting that Pelley and Whitaker are 68 and 74, respectively. “Most of the show’s correspondents and its viewers are geriatric.”
Longtime anchor and reporter John Dickerson already announced he plans to leave the network at the end of the year. Whatever the case, CBS News is undergoing a serious facelift, one that could be for the better. No, it’s not going to become like Fox News, but maybe it’ll at least be tolerable to watch.
"I make sure the culture is monomaniacally focused on race at all times, that's what I do. I make sure everyone is decentering their whiteness and doing their land acknowledgements. What the hell is wrong with you people!" https://t.co/UVJ1mRZst0 pic.twitter.com/tpQR2zwhCe
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) October 29, 2025
How will CBS News survive without the critical contributions of this team! https://t.co/uzk9JTYgdC pic.twitter.com/2NJepIbKTi
— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) October 30, 2025
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