After spending most of her first week on the job quietly observing, CBS News’ new editor in chief Bari Weiss spoke up at the network’s Thursday editors’ meeting — and the topic was the Israel-Hamas peace deal, The Post has learned.
Weiss — the scrappy, 41-year-old journalist who was tapped to lead CBS News’ coverage starting Monday — had been relatively quiet during the network’s 9 a.m. daily editorial meetings this week, but on Thursday morning she was “making her presence known,” a source said.
“She was vocal on the bookings for the Israel-Hamas ceasefire,” the source said, directing people to get in touch with Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, the architects of the president’s plan to end the war in Gaza.
The person said that Weiss was particularly interested in working with the booking staff about interviewing Kushner, Witkoff and others in the administration who helped broker the release of dozens of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
Jenna Gibson, the executive editorial producer of CBS News, introduced herself to Weiss at the meeting and said she was working with CBS Chief Foreign Affairs correspondent Margaret Brennan, who also hosts “Face The Nation,” to make sure Kushner and others would speak to the network about the deal.
“This is the first time she [Bari] really got involved [in the editorial meeting],” the source said of Weiss.
CBS News declined to comment.
David Ellison, CEO of CBS-owner Paramount Skydance, announced Weiss would head up the network’s editorial vision and pay $150 million to acquire her news site, The Free Press. Weiss is a vocal supporter of Israel and a fierce critic of antisemitism that has spread across the US since Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7 attack on Israel two years ago.
Weiss’ right-of-center views, that also include anti-wokism and scrutiny of diversity, equity and inclusion policies, have roiled the liberal network, which as reported by The Post has been compared to a “snake pit” by current and former CBS staffers.
In his memo to staff on Monday, Ellison lamented a “partisan” environment consumed by “hostile disputes” and said Weiss will bring “rigorous, fact-based reporting and a relentless commitment to amplifying voices from all corners of the spectrum.”
Ellison’s Skydance merged with Paramount in August for $8 billion, and as part of the deal, the newly-formed company vowed to the Federal Communications Commission that it would address bias complaints.
Weeks before the merger was approved by the FCC, Paramount agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Donald Trump over alleged biased editing of a “60 Minutes” interview with Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris shortly before the election.
The network denied any wrongdoing, but it eventually settled the lawsuit, with Ellison sweetening the deal by agreeing to throw in an additional $20 million in pro-MAGA advertising to get the deal done, Trump has said
Aside from the Harris scandal, the network was forced to fend off calls of bias over its Israel coverage, which riled the company’s then-controlling shareholder Shari Redstone.
Among the complaints was a controversial “60 Minutes” segment featuring State Department officials who quit over American support for Israel’s efforts to root out Hamas terrorists in Gaza — a piece that the American Jewish Committee said was “shockingly one-sided, lacked factual accuracy, and relied heavily on misguided information.”
