Bari Weiss, the newly appointed editor-in-chief of CBS News, has wasted no time making her presence felt at the storied network. Hired by Paramount Skydance to inject new attention and energy into the 98-year-old institution, Weiss began her tenure on Monday, October 6, 2025, and quickly set about learning the ropes—and shaking things up. Her arrival comes at a critical juncture for CBS News, which is grappling with declining ratings, internal uncertainty, and looming layoffs expected before Thanksgiving.
On Friday, October 10, Weiss sent a company-wide memo that immediately grabbed headlines and stirred conversation both inside and outside the network. In the note, she asked every staff member to outline how they spend their working hours, what they are most proud of, and to offer honest assessments of what is working and what is broken at CBS News. Weiss urged, “Please be blunt—it will help me greatly,” adding that all responses would be kept in “the strictest of confidence.” According to Variety, she emphasized her desire to “familiarize myself with you—and I want you to do the same with me—to know that we are aligned on achieving a shared vision for CBS News.”
While such requests for input are not unheard of when new leaders take the helm, Weiss’s memo drew sharp comparisons to the controversial management style of Elon Musk. Earlier in 2025, Musk, through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the Trump administration, had federal employees submit weekly updates on their accomplishments—an exercise that preceded mass layoffs. Staff at CBS News couldn’t help but notice the parallel, especially as rumors swirl of imminent job cuts at the network. As one CBS veteran told Business Insider, “She wants us to justify our jobs and figure out if we align with her agenda.”
Unsurprisingly, the Writers Guild of America East, which represents many CBS News employees, advised its members to withhold their responses until CBS clarified how the memos would be used and whether non-compliance could result in disciplinary action. The guild’s cautious stance underscores the anxiety many staffers feel as the network faces what insiders describe as “steep cuts” expected before Thanksgiving.
Despite the tension, Weiss has been careful to differentiate her approach from Musk’s. She stressed her intention to listen and learn, polling staff for their views on what works and what needs fixing. “I’m not looking for a JD or words like synergy,” she wrote, signaling a desire for candor over corporate jargon. Her stated goal is to bypass “functional titles and reporting structures” and get beyond “hierarchical niceties,” as reported by Variety. She plans to use the memos as discussion guides in her upcoming meetings with staff, aiming to build alignment on a shared vision for the network’s future.
Weiss’s arrival at CBS News is notable not just for her management style, but for her background and the broader implications for the network’s editorial direction. Known for founding The Free Press—a digital publication with 170,000 paid subscribers and a reputation for challenging far-left cultural orthodoxy—Weiss is seen as an unorthodox choice to lead a mainstream TV news organization. Paramount Skydance’s CEO David Ellison, who acquired The Free Press for $150 million, has tasked her with revitalizing CBS News and breaking its cycle of leadership turnover and stagnant ratings.
The shakeup comes as CBS News faces significant challenges. Its flagship weekday shows, CBS Evening News and CBS Mornings, have struggled to compete with NBC and ABC. CBS Evening News, after a recent format overhaul, averaged just 3.7 million viewers for the five days ending September 26, 2025, according to Nielsen. The show’s current co-hosts, John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois, have seen ratings slip to 4.1 million—placing the broadcast last among its peers. CBS Mornings has also lost about 10% of its viewership this year, dropping to an all-time low of 1.9 million viewers. Even so, CBS News retains a high level of trust among the American public; a recent Pew Research Center poll found that 51% of U.S. adults who trust national news organizations trust CBS News, putting it on par with CNN and PBS.
Amid the uncertainty, speculation is rampant about the future of the network’s top anchors and programs. Norah O’Donnell, who stepped down as CBS Evening News anchor earlier in 2025, has reemerged as a favorite for a leading role after a high-profile lunch with Weiss. According to The New York Post, O’Donnell is likely to host an upcoming roundtable with former Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton, Mike Pompeo, and Antony Blinken—a move that could position her for a return to the coveted anchor chair. However, not everyone at CBS is convinced this is the right direction. One insider remarked, “I can’t believe Bari would be fooled by Norah O’Donnell. Norah has a track record of losing and Bari wants to win. Nothing says CBS News is stuck in the past more than putting Norah O’Donnell back on the ‘Evening News.’”
Other names are in the mix as well. Tony Dokoupil, co-host of CBS Mornings, is reportedly a leading internal candidate to anchor CBS Evening News. Some network sources note that while Dokoupil brings “pro-Israel credibility”—a possible draw for Weiss—he is still considered “green” and in need of more experience leading major news events. “Tony right now couldn’t handle election night by himself. Norah can and Cecilia can. With time, he can,” said one CBS insider, who also touted 60 Minutes correspondent Cecilia Vega as “the best of all the people at CBS.”
Meanwhile, the future of “CBS Mornings” anchor Gayle King remains up in the air as her contract comes up for renewal next year. If King exits, insiders believe Weiss could “blow up both shows” by moving O’Donnell back to mornings and promoting Dokoupil to the evening slot. Such moves would mark a dramatic reshuffling at a time when stability is in short supply at the network.
Weiss’s approach has already drawn scrutiny reminiscent of the attention Megyn Kelly received when she joined NBC News in 2017. Like Kelly, Weiss brings a high media profile and a reputation for challenging the status quo—attributes that have both excited and unsettled the CBS News newsroom. Her critics point to her history of criticizing mainstream media and taking controversial stances on hot-button issues, such as the war in Gaza, raising questions about how she might steer CBS News’s editorial voice.
As CBS News staffers brace for impending layoffs and await further word on the network’s direction, one thing is clear: Bari Weiss has arrived with a mandate to listen, learn, and—perhaps most importantly—transform. Whether her efforts will restore CBS News to its former preeminence or deepen internal divisions remains to be seen. For now, the newsroom is abuzz with anticipation, concern, and, for some, a glimmer of hope that change might finally bring results.
