CBS’s Bari Weiss adds 19 commentators, plans to lean on streaming-oriented strategy in newsroom revamp

By Dawn Chmielewski and Helen Coster

NEW YORK, Jan 27 (Reuters) – CBS News Editor-In-Chief Bari Weiss unveiled her strategy to the CBS newsroom on Tuesday, saying she will add 19 new contributors and focus on bringing a “streaming mentality” to the august network, which has consistently trailed in ratings to rivals ABC and NBC. 

In a company-wide presentation, Weiss laid out a new vision to bring CBS News into the 21st-century by restructuring operations, starting news coverage on digital platforms and ending up on television. One major strategic initiative is to boost investment in commentary to appeal to more politically independent viewers.   

“To cover America as it actually is, we in this building need to reflect more of the political friction that animates our national conversation,” Weiss said in remarks to staff. “That means recruiting and hiring editors, reporters, producers and correspondents about whom our viewers will say, ‘They understand me. They will give me a fair shake. They respect me.'”

Weiss, a former opinion journalist and entrepreneur picked to lead CBS News in October, told staff she wants to reimagine CBS, “breaking news mixed with brilliant conversation.” Her early tenure has been marked by a rocky beginning, with criticism over the temporary shelving of a “60 Minutes” segment critical of the Trump Administration, along with staff dissension and in-fighting. 

Weiss, 41, in her address to employees, said not enough people trust the news, and “we are not producing a product that enough people want.” 

Parent company Paramount Skydance Chief Executive David Ellison spent $150 million to acquire The Free Press, the online publication she founded, and hired Weiss to head CBS. Weiss, who has no broadcast experience, is attempting to do what no other modern news organization has ever accomplished: engineer a political reset, in real time, while attracting fresh viewers. 

Weiss said she looks to build a united newsroom, without fiefdoms, that’s nimbler in its storytelling. In the near future, she said, an investigative story might break on CBS News’s website and YouTube on Thursday, be featured on the “CBS Evening News” that night, then continue on “60 Minutes” on Sunday, where a main character sits for an interview.  

“How can we produce the most relevant stories for an audience that expects the news immediately and on demand. And for younger generations for whom ‘streaming’ and ‘social’ are simply: TV and the news,” said Weiss. 

Her mission originates with Ellison, the network’s new owner, and comes as President Donald Trump has pursued aggressive tactics against media he considers to be unfair. David Ellison’s father, billionaire Larry Ellison, is a Trump ally. To help secure regulatory approval for Skydance Media’s August acquisition of CBS owner Paramount, David Ellison promised that the network would reflect the “varied ideological perspectives” of American viewers.

The new lineup of commentators includes conservative UK historian Niall Ferguson, former Trump National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster, as well as fashion journalist Lauren Sherman.

“This is a big, big swing away from everything CBS News has stood for for decades,” said Judy Muller, a former ABC and CBS journalist and Professor Emerita at USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, referring to the hiring of outside commentators.

“I’m sure the staff at CBS News is looking at this list and saying, ‘So where do they go, how do they appear, and what does that do to our credibility?’”

STAFF DISSENSION IN EARLY DAYS

Weiss is a former New York Times and Wall Street Journal opinion writer who has never managed a television newsroom.

The network’s flagship news show “CBS Evening News” closed out last year in last place behind nightly newscasts from rivals ABC and NBC.

Her leadership so far has been rocky, marked by staff dissension and in-fighting. The nightly broadcast’s second-in-charge producer, Javier Guzman, was let go, according to a source familiar with the move. Guzman could not be reached for comment.

Weiss herself was criticized for delaying the airing of a “60 Minutes” segment about a notorious prison in El Salvador, citing the need for more reporting. Correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi defended the segment as factually correct in an email to colleagues, and called Weiss’ decision “a political one.”

Comedian and Golden Globes host Nikki Glaser reduced the network’s news division to a punchline during the January 11 awards ceremony – which David Ellison attended – describing it as “America’s newest place to see B.S. news.” 

LAST PLACE AMONG BROADCAST EVENING NEWS

The official launch of “The CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil” on January 5 drew an average of 4.4 million viewers — up 9% from viewership earlier in the season, CBS said.

But the audience for the debut revamped broadcast put CBS in last place among broadcast evening news programs, trailing “ABC World News Tonight,” with 8.24 million viewers, and the “NBC Nightly News,” with an audience of 7.2 million, according to Nielsen. The audience reflected a 23% decline from the same time last year, on the cusp of Trump’s second term.

The newscast’s ratings improved between its first and second weeks, but it still lags behind its rivals.

(Reporting by Helen Coster in New York and Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles. Editing by Kenneth Li, Jennifer Saba and Nick Zieminski)