As Bari Weiss’ tenure as CBS News’ editor-in-chief continues, pundits have been sounding off about the changes she’s made. Many have also chastised Weiss’ editorial decisions and accused her of political partiality when it comes to news coverage. Since-fired 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley even accused her of “murdering” the show. Not everyone seems to be displeased with Weiss’ performance, though. To that point, a newly installed correspondent is sharing what he finds to be “great” about her.
Weiss has been bringing a considerable amount of new talent into CBS as of late, and that includes Tony Phillips. The British veteran journalist recently joined the Eye Network’s news department as a senior global affairs correspondent after several years of hosting Sunday Morning at Sky News. As suggested by his interview with The Telegraph, Phillips appears to be aware of the headlines that have been swirling around his new boss, but he doesn’t seem to mind it. As he sees it, one of two scenarios could play out under Weiss’ leadership:
Bari and her team have a huge tanker of a network news organisation to turn around, and they are assembling a little team on the bridge. The great thing about her is that she’s one of those people who will either change the world or crash and burn. But when they crash and burn, it’s in technicolour.
Much of the discussion revolving around Weiss has had to do with her perceived lack of experience with running a broadcast-based entity. Before Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison tapped her as CBS News’ EIC, Weiss worked as a journalist for outlets like The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. She also founded The Free Press, which has since been acquired by Paramount. After his firing, Pelley further criticized Weiss’ leadership style, opining that his former place of employment needed “adult supervision.”
A significant point of contention has been the reported claim that Weiss is shifting the historically liberal CBS News to more conservative-leaning news coverage. Both past and present employees have also made claims of "journalistic interference” amid the wave of changes she’s implemented. For his part, Phillips also weighed in on the notion of Weiss’ methods representing an “anti-woke” initiative of sorts:
In the US, the controversy has been framed as, ‘CBS News is becoming anti-woke’. But that’s not what Bari is about. She has her own views, some of which I’m sympathetic to, some of which I’m not, but her point is that the media should be heterodox. There should be a variety of voices.
Amid the scrutiny Weiss has faced from different media pundits, though, there are people who are reportedly in her corner. Tony Dokoupil, who became the CBS Evening News anchor earlier this year, spoke well of Weiss and noted that she had “lots of ideas.” Not only that, but Dokoupil said he hadn’t experienced any of the media bias alleged by others. It’s also been reported that David Ellison has faith in Weiss’ abilities and isn’t planning to relieve her of her EIC duties.
It’s hard to say what exactly the future holds for CBS News while Bari Weiss remains in the top seat. What seems apparent, though, is that the company will continue to evolve, and Trevor Phillips as well as other new faces could be key parts of the brand moving forward.
