CBS News’ Bari Weiss era continues, as the longtime journalist has been steering the ship as editor-in-chief for nearly a year now. In that time, the Free Press founder has spearheaded changes, which have reportedly been met with varied responses from individuals outside the company. At the same time, there have also been allegations of internal strife, with some supposedly taking issue with Weiss’ handling of 60 Minutes and more. Now, if a new report is to be believed, she’s clashing with a major colleague.
Apparently, Weiss reportedly isn’t seeing eye to eye with CBS News President Tom Cibrowski. A person with information on the alleged situation claims this dispute comes down to Cibrowski and Weiss having differing views on the company’s editorial coverage. Weiss supposedly wants to place emphasis on hard news, while Cibrowski allegedly wants to zero in on human interest stories that appeal to Middle America. No one from within the news corporation has confirmed or denied these claims.
What’s also said by the New York Post is that this supposed dispute has seeped into the day-to-day operations at the Eye Network’s news branch. Staffers are allegedly conflicted about how to handle certain tasks and, per the insider, they reportedly feel like they’re “caught in the middle” of “two feuding parents”. The source – who is purportedly an employee with the company – summed it up like this:
It’s a Cold War. We just want one side to win so we can do our jobs.
Another network source provides a different perspective, though, saying that “Tom likes Bari” and “thinks she’s smart and has good ideas.” On top of that, another insider claims the pair “work together very well” despite any differences they have. Still, some believe that should programming continue to garner less-than-desired ratings, either one of them could be fired. To that point, this report comes months after claims of Cibrowski being “dead meat” should CBS Mornings ratings not improve.
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Questions have swirled around Bari Weiss as well in recent months, though it’s been reported that she has the full confidence of Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison. All the while, several notable individuals have criticized her hiring due to her lack of previous experience in broadcast journalism. After his firing from 60 Minutes this past summer, Scott Pelley called out Weiss and CBS News’ leadership team. On the other side of that, though Weiss has received support from Norah O’Donnell, Trevor Phillips and others.
One of the latest tests for Weiss’ tenure as E-I-C involves 60 Minutes, which debuted its 59th season this past weekend as part of the 2026 TV schedule. That episode was preceded by a much-discussed summer, which saw Pelly ousted along with correspondents Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi and EP Tanya Simon among others. New talent has since been brought in to join series veterans Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim. Execs are reportedly questioning whether this new lineup will attract strong viewership moving forward.
60, of course, is just one offering from CBS News that Bari Weiss has to contend with alongside Tom Cibrowski. What’s seemingly remained consistent amongst these reports is that ratings are (of course) a major factor in determining corporate staffing changes. So time will tell how the company’s programming fares with Cibrowski and Weiss handling it and how that does or doesn’t impact their professional futures.
