Paramount Buys ‘The Free Press,’ Bari Weiss to Lead CBS

Paramount bought The Free Press (Lean Right bias) in a $150 million deal announced on Tuesday and named the outlet’s founder, Bari Weiss (Center), editor-in-chief of CBS News (Lean Left).

Key Quotes: Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison said, “This move is part of Paramount's bigger vision to modernize content and the way it connects - directly and passionately - to audiences around the world… We believe the majority of the country longs for news that is balanced and fact-based, and we want CBS to be their home.” Weiss wrote that “an America-loathing far left” and “history-erasing far right” “do not represent the majority of the country, but they have increasing power in our politics, our culture, and our media ecosystem… The values that we’ve hammered out here over the years—journalism based in curiosity and honesty, a culture of healthy disagreement, our shared belief in America’s promise—now have the opportunity to go very, very big.”

For Context: Weiss left her role as a writer and editor at The New York Times (Lean Left) in 2020. She wrote on Tuesday, “by then, [the outlet was] a fancy logo and a motto that many had abandoned in exchange for devotion to a set of narrow, partisan ideas.” She went on to found The Free Press in 2021 with her sister, Suzy Weiss, and wife, Nellie Bowles, and will continue as the outlet’s editor and CEO while undertaking her new responsibilities with CBS.

How The Media Covered It: Outlets on the left often framed the so-called “anti-woke” Free Press as a right-leaning establishment. Fox News (Right) asserted that Weiss has “largely been ostracized by the cultural left” for her outlet’s reporting. CNN Business (Lean Left) called the deal a “buzzy and risky move,” stating, “Weiss lacks experience managing a newsroom the size of CBS” but “brings a news sensibility and attitude that Ellison wants to elevate.” The Wall Street Journal (Center) noted, “Some media observers see the Free Press deal as further evidence that Ellison is trying to score points with the White House,” but also quoted Weiss in saying, “We never pull punches, no matter who is in power.” 

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