CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss is eyeing Fox News anchor Bret Baier, among others, as a potential candidate to lead the CBS Evening News, according to network sources.
Weiss, who assumed leadership shortly after media magnate David Ellison acquired CBS, has been endeavoring to restructure the network’s daily operations. She has reportedly mandated staff to provide comprehensive memos detailing their responsibilities in anticipation of forthcoming layoffs and has personally engaged in the network’s booking process, contacting guests and influencing coverage priorities, which notably include a feature for her sister, Suzy Weiss, co-founder of Free Press.
The new editor-in-chief has been discreetly soliciting candidates for a new anchor for the flagship show, and among external prospects, Weiss has proposed Baier as a prospective contender, sources informed Status’ Oliver Darcy.
Although internal candidates like as Norah O’Donnell and Tony Dokoupil are still under consideration, Weiss has allegedly engaged in discussions with other colleagues on the potential inclusion of the Fox stalwart into CBS, a strategy that Darcy contended “indicates the network’s direction under Ellison’s ownership.”
Baier, earning over $14 million annually and regarded as Fox News’s most refined Beltway anchor, renewed his contract in 2023, extending it until 2028, as noted by Darcy, rendering an abrupt transition unlikely.
Weiss’s attempt to recruit the Fox News anchor is not her inaugural effort to get the services of an individual already contracted with Fox during her initial tenure as CBS News chief.
The newly appointed Editor-in-Chief attempted to secure the participation of former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo—a contracted Fox News contributor—in a recent panel alongside other former Secretaries of State, notwithstanding Pompeo’s exclusivity agreement with Fox. The endeavor was unsuccessful, and the panel discussion continued without him
A network insider claims that CBS News employees opposing their new supervisor are either excessively “progressive” or “quite elderly.”
Bari Weiss was officially appointed editor-in-chief of CBS News earlier this month following the acquisition of her site, The Free Press, by Paramount.
The decision faced criticism from both internal and external sources, with some referencing her background in opinion and insufficient broadcast expertise.
Nevertheless, a CBS News insider indicated that employee concerns regarding Weiss within the newsroom stem from two separate factions.
“Really young people who, frankly, might be [more] progressive than they should be, and the really old people who feel protective of a brand that no longer exists anyway,” the CBS News insider told Fox News Digital of colleagues who are “aghast” Weiss was hand-picked by Paramount CEO David Ellison to lead the news division.
The insider said the older staffers who long for Walter Cronkite’s CBS News “don’t know how to grow with the times,” and some younger colleagues object to Weiss being so passionately pro-Israel and anti-“woke.”
“Everyone in between was like, ‘Yeah let’s try something new,’” they said.
The insider said a large majority of the newsroom is open-minded and well aware that Weiss “launched a hyper-successful media company” and clearly has a “good pulse” on the American zeitgeist.
“We probably needed a course correction, and an unwillingness to acknowledge that would lead to perpetual third place,” the CBS News insider said.
“I didn’t share the viewpoint that she was going to come in and butcher everything, and I’ve been right so far,” the insider added. “She’s forced us to think in a way that we weren’t doing as much of before. I welcome that.”
They added the reaction from some colleagues mirrored the state of broadcast news, where a “refusal to evolve” has hurt many careers.
“I was never like, ‘Oh my God, she’s going to destroy our brand.’ As [a] third-place network, you would think you’d be wide open to new ideas,” the insider said, referring to “CBS Evening News” and “CBS Mornings” both routinely floundering behind rivals on ABC and NBC.