(AURN News) โ Barely a month into her new role as editor in chief of CBS News, Bari Weiss is already making her mark on the network.
โSheโs made her presence very well known,โ said Oliver Darcy, founder of the media newsletter Status.
โSheโs been active on editorial calls and during newsroom meetings,โ he told AURN News.
Darcy, who first reported that new Paramount owner David Ellison recruited Weiss for the role, said her early decisions signal a clear direction.
โI reported last night that sheโs working on finding the next CBS Evening News anchor,โ he said.
โShe has her eyes, at least, on one person โ Fox Newsโs Bret Baier,โ Darcy added. โAnd I think what that indicates is that they are going to push this company into waters that are friendlier to Trump.โ
That possible shift, Darcy warned, could reshape CBSโs coverage at a time when the networkโs owner and his family are being openly praised by President Trump.
โIf you pay attention to what Donald Trump is saying, heโs constantly lavishing praise on the Ellison family,โ Darcy explained. โI get the sense he is very closely watching programs like 60 Minutes and CBS News.โ
Weiss, long known as a polarizing figure in journalism, has made clear that she wants to โboth sidesโ major political stories. Darcy believes that approach risks confusing balance with false equivalence.
โI think sheโll allow for some tough coverage of Donald Trump,โ he said. โBut she wants an equal amount of time to be spent on Democrats and on what she sees as the excesses of the left. And I think in this moment, that doesnโt really work because the two sides are not equal.โ
Darcy also sees Weissโs arrival as part of a larger shift in the industry โ one where commentary is often mistaken for reporting.
โMost of Fox News is just talk radio but with video,โ he said. โItโs commentary coming from a MAGA direction. Their mission is not to deliver truth to audiences as they know it, but to deliver red meat to an audience that hungers for their right-wing worldview to be enforced.โ
Those who have highly favorable views of Fox News often argue that MSNBC does the same thing. AURN News asked Darcy about this comparison. He said that while MSNBC is opinionated, it โdoes a lot more fact-based news in the afternoonsโ and features progressive commentators who โwere very critical of Joe Biden and whether he should be in the race.โ
As social media and podcasts compete with legacy outlets, Darcy said the very definition of โthe mediaโ has fragmented.
โNews means a lot of different things to a lot of different people,โ he said. โIt can mean Fox News, it can mean The New York Times. It means anywhere you might be getting information or entertainment.โ
For now, all eyes are on Weissโs next move at CBS. โPaying attention to 60 Minutes is going to be important,โ Darcy said. โAre they going to continue providing hard-hitting reporting on Donald Trump? Is it going to soften at all? Thatโs really what Iโm paying attention to at the moment. And The CBS Evening News โ what happens there?โ
Click play to listen to the AURN News report from Jamie Jackson:
