Redstone: Bari Weiss A ‘Good Voice’ For CBS News

Shari Redstone

Shari Redstone, the former controlling shareholder and non-executive chair of Paramount Global (which owns CBS News), made headlines last week during an interview at Axios' Media Trends Live event in New York. 

Speaking with Axios' Sara Fischer, Redstone expressed support for Bari Weiss—a prominent journalist and founder of the independent media outlet The Free Press—potentially joining CBS News in a leadership role. This endorsement comes amid ongoing acquisition talks between Skydance Media (which recently acquired Paramount) and The Free Press, led by Skydance CEO David Ellison.

Redstone's comments signal her vision for injecting more ideological balance into CBS News, a network she has long influenced through her family's media empire.

Redstone's full quote: "I know there’s been talk about Bari, and I think she would be a good voice, so I’m hopeful." She elaborated that Weiss "would bring a different perspective," emphasizing the need for news outlets to "give your audience credit for being smart enough to hear different points of view and being able to narrow down on the facts." 

She added that "news needs to be more balanced" and "fact-based," reflecting her broader critiques of perceived liberal biases in mainstream media.

Bari Weiss

The potential deal would see Skydance acquire The Free Press for an undisclosed sum, with Weiss likely stepping into an executive or editorial position at CBS News to oversee content strategy. 

This move aligns with Paramount's recent upheavals, including:

• The $8 billion sale of Paramount to Skydance, approved by regulators in July 2025.
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• A controversial $16 million settlement with former President Donald Trump over a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris, which Trump claimed was edited deceptively. Redstone defended the payout as a pragmatic business decision to expedite the sale, despite many legal experts viewing the suit as baseless.
• An agreement to appoint an independent ombudsman at CBS News, imposed by the FCC under Trump-appointed chair Brendan Carr, to monitor for bias.

Redstone has been vocal about "anti-Israel bias" and lack of balance at CBS, particularly since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel—a cause she champions as a prominent Jewish philanthropist and crusader against antisemitism. 

Bari Weiss, 42, is a polarizing figure in journalism known for her centrist-to-conservative commentary, staunch pro-Israel stance, and critiques of "woke" culture. 

Career Path: A former opinion editor at The Wall Street Journal, she joined The New York Times op-ed section in 2017 but resigned in 2020 via a public letter, accusing the paper of fostering a hostile environment for non-progressive voices.

The Free Press: Co-founded in 2021 as a Substack newsletter, it grew into a full media company with 500,000+ paid subscribers by 2025. It focuses on contrarian takes, including exposés on media bias (e.g., a viral 2024 piece by ex-NPR editor Uri Berliner alleging liberal slant at public radio).

The acquisition is not finalized, but Redstone's stamp of approval—her first major public statement since the Paramount sale—suggests strong momentum.