There are numerous methods to interpret Bari Weiss’ elevation to editor in chief of CBS Information — a formidable title that also doesn’t fairly seize her affect, contemplating she’ll report on to David Ellison, chairman of Paramount and son of the billionaire Oracle co-founder.
One might, in fact, be jealous. She’s 41, has no conventional broadcast expertise, and someway persuaded Paramount to purchase her startup, the Free Press, for a cool $150 million. Not since AOL purchased HuffPost for $315 million has there been a extra spectacular case of optimism in a brand new media Midas.
Weiss’ profession trajectory has been nothing wanting meteoric. Columbia grad. Former flame of Kate McKinnon of “Saturday Evening Dwell” fame. By the point she was in her mid-30s, she had been op-ed editor for each the Wall Avenue Journal and the New York Instances — again when legacy media jobs have been nonetheless coveted and extremely prestigious.
Then, she stop the N.Y. Instances in a high-profile huff, citing “bullying by colleagues” and an “intolerant surroundings” — and virtually instantly landed on her toes by launching the Free Press, a sort of digital salon for the heterodox and excommunicated. The outlet is now reportedly pulling $15 million in annual subscription income from readers who assume being informed “you may’t say that” is the last word oppression.
Predictably, some stodgy, ink-stained CBS veterans are lower than thrilled about her arrival. Are you able to blame them? Think about working someplace for 20 years, solely to be informed your new boss is somebody who made a profession and a fortune telling everybody that individuals like you’re the downside.
So, sure, envy and workplace politics clarify a part of the flap over her lofty new place. However there’s a darker nook of the web the place Weiss’ very identification is handled like a smoking gun for a conspiracy idea.
Yow will discover the standard on-line antisemitic posters muttering a couple of “Jewish billionaire” (Larry Ellison) hiring a “pro-Israel propagandist” (Weiss).
It’s the sort of deranged commentary that reminds you the web was a mistake.
Past the jealousy and bigotry, although, there are two extra grounded, but competing, theories about what Weiss’ elevation truly means.
The primary, let’s name it a Sinister Idea, is that Ellison — Trump pal, yacht proprietor, informal technocrat — is attempting to seize the final crumbling bastions of mainstream media for the Trump regime. On this situation, Weiss is another domino in a slow-moving authoritarian takeover.
The Bulwark’s Jonathan V. Final calls Weiss’ elevation “a preposterous rent that is smart for one motive: The Ellisons consider it would purchase them good will with the Trump administration.” Translation: CBS is about to turn into Newsmax, however with higher lighting.
If one subscribes to this premise, Weiss’ hiring might be seen as a part of Trump’s plan to colonize or destroy the mainstream media. This marketing campaign has concerned suing shops, banning the Related Press from information occasions, putting in Trump allies (together with Larry Ellison) to run TikTok, siccing the Federal Communications Fee on Jimmy Kimmel, and many others.
The opposite idea is much less sinister, however nonetheless miserable. Let’s name it the Reconciliation Gambit.
In line with this idea, the previous liberal monoculture drove itself right into a ditch with its bias and sanctimony, alienating everybody who didn’t personal a hybrid or declare their pronouns, and now desperately needs again within the cultural dialog.
Weiss’ job is to convey steadiness and variety to a biased media outlet — and woo again a few of Center America.
This may sound naive, however Weiss isn’t some torch-carrying Trumpist. Her hometown Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle editorialized in 2020: “Weiss is a real centrist. She is anti-Trump and in favor of repealing the Second Modification, however she additionally sticks up for Israel, condemns anti-Semitism wherever it lurks and criticizes the progressive left for its penchant for ‘cancel tradition.’”
In a column saying the transfer to Paramount, Weiss promised to “assist reshape a storied media group,” invoking “the nice values that underpin The Free Press and one of the best of American journalism.”
It’s truthful to ask whether or not “reshaping” legacy media is feasible, even for somebody as bold and sensible as Weiss. Attempting to avoid wasting CBS Information in 2025 seems like attempting to relaunch a pay cellphone enterprise.
Nonetheless, Weiss isn’t threatening to burn down the mainstream media, however relatively, promising to revive its glory. And so, Weiss, exiled prodigy of the op-ed web page, is each a logo and an experiment. A check of whether or not the previous cathedral will be saved by a brand new priest.
The most important unknown, in fact, is her motive, as a result of her expertise is simple.
In a couple of quick years, Weiss has gone from being essentially the most reviled individual on the New York Instances to essentially the most highly effective individual at CBS Information. If she plans to convey that very same magic to her new position, I’m unsure I’d wager in opposition to her.
Matt Okay. Lewis is the creator of “Filthy Wealthy Politicians” and “Too Dumb to Fail.”
