I’m often asked by liberal media members how I can stomach listening to, interviewing, and talking about conservative news/talk radio all day. At the same time, conservative news/talk radio hosts ask me how I’m able to pay attention to liberal television hosts all day. The truth is, the politics don’t matter. The content and the broadcasting business do. So, while there are definitely thoughts about what Bari Weiss joining CBS News means for the outlet and its political leanings, I don’t care about that. I care about the business first and foremost.
And from a business perspective, Bari Weiss is an intriguing hire for CBS News. She’s not the kind of traditional journalist CBS usually brings into the fold, nor does she fit neatly into the network’s long-established culture. What she does bring, however, is a proven understanding of where journalism and media consumption are headed.
Weiss knows digital — not in the “post more clips on TikTok” sense, but in the “build a sustainable digital-first news brand” sense. That’s something CBS News desperately needs.
At The New York Times, Bari Weiss was part of a team that helped push one of America’s most legacy print institutions into the modern digital era. The Times reinvented itself as a digital news titan during her tenure. Whether you agreed with her work there or not, it’s hard to ignore the fact that the Times’ digital success — both in content and subscriptions — came during a period when Weiss was among its most high-profile and forward-thinking voices.
After her departure, she didn’t fade away. She built her own media venture, The Free Press, from scratch. In just a few years, that project grew into a self-sustaining, profitable business. Say what you will about her political leanings, but her digital effort was just purchased for $150 million. That doesn’t happen by accident. You can’t sell something for nine figures unless you’ve created real value — both in audience and influence.
Sure, some critics will argue that Weiss hasn’t made the kind of cultural impact that other former mainstream-media personalities like Tucker Carlson or Megyn Kelly have. They’re right. But that’s not really a fair comparison. Weiss isn’t playing in the same arena as Carlson or Kelly, who are essentially running personality-driven media companies.
And that’s also why her move to CBS is so smart from a strategic standpoint. CBS News has had a digital problem for years. Its streaming service — CBS News 24/7 — has struggled to differentiate itself in a crowded space. Its YouTube presence, while improving, is nowhere near where it should be for a national news organization with CBS’s resources and history.
Look at these viewership figures on YouTube from major television news networks during 2025’s third quarter:
- Fox News – 1.1 billion
- MSNBC – 848 million
- CNN – 627 million
- NBC News – 424 million
- ABC News – 359 million
- Fox Business Network – 166 million
- CBS News – 163 million
CBS News was beaten by Fox Business Network on YouTube? That isn’t a strategy failure. That’s a complete lack of strategy.
So, that’s a massive opportunity for someone like Bari Weiss. She understands how audiences actually consume news content in 2025 — not how television executives wish they consumed it. CBS News is still too focused on being a TV network with a digital add-on, rather than a modern digital news organization that also happens to have a television arm. Weiss, if given the freedom and support, could help change that.
Now, there’s no question her hiring will ruffle feathers inside the CBS newsroom. There are already reports of internal discomfort about the move. That’s not surprising. Weiss has a reputation as a provocateur. In a newsroom that still prides itself on the old-school prestige of Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather, that can feel like a culture clash.
But here’s the thing: culture clashes can be healthy. Conflict — constructive conflict, more specifically — is a good thing.
Legacy news organizations don’t evolve without discomfort. CBS News doesn’t need another anchor or a reshuffled lineup. It needs a reset in thinking. It needs someone willing to say, “Hey, maybe we’re not the center of the media universe anymore — and that’s okay, as long as we adapt.”
If you look at the biggest successes in modern journalism — whether it’s The New York Times or even YouTube-native news channels — they’re all built on understanding audience behavior. They don’t assume that because someone watched 60 Minutes last week, they’ll stick around for the next big story. They meet the audience where it already is. Weiss has built her career on that exact premise.
So while some CBS News employees are already holding their noses about the hire, it’s always good practice to give someone a chance before jumping to conclusions. Bari Weiss has shown she can build things that work in today’s media environment. If CBS lets her do that here, the network might finally find its footing in a digital world that’s been passing it by for a decade.
And if she can’t? Well, then CBS is right back where it started — still searching for a digital identity. But given Weiss’s track record, betting against her might not be the smartest business move.
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Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing daily news stories, features, and opinion columns. He joined Barrett Media in 2022 after a decade leading several radio brands in several formats, as well as a 5-year stint working in local television. In addition to his work with Barrett Media, he is a radio and TV play-by-play broadcaster. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
Great article Garrett