After A Month, How Is CBS News Doing With Bari Weiss?

Bari Weiss’s CBS News overhaul—launched Oct. 6 with a $150M Free Press buyout—has triggered mass layoffs (including eight female on-air stars), a culture-war clash, and Election Night chaos, leaving veteran staffers “freaking out” and viewers fleeing.

Just 33 days in, Weiss axed eight women—among them South African correspondent Debora Patta and weekend anchor Adriana Diaz—while sparing white male veterans, sparking instant #JimCrow2 hashtags and accusations of “Israeli white supremacism.” 

Talent chief Laurie Orlando became the latest exec casualty; dozens more pink slips hit producers and POCs across bureaus.

Ratings hemorrhage:

• Evening News dipped below 3.5M for the first time since 1987.
• Streaming uniques fell 28% week-over-week.

Internal survey: 41% of remaining staff “actively job-hunting.”

CBS News is spending $10,000 a day—$3.6 million a year—on an eight-man, ex-Navy SEAL security bubble for President Bari Weiss, complete with armored SUVs, advance scouts, and bathroom sweeps, while 200 staffers clear out their desks.

”Why the fortress?Zero “credible threats” on NYPD or FBI logs.  But Weiss’s pro-Israel stance and spiked Gaza stories have unleashed a social-media storm—death threats, doxxing, and one NY Assemblyman openly floating revocation of her team’s carry permits.

Weiss’s pro-Israel tilt already shows: Tony Dokoupil’s Netanyahu softball aired unedited; Gaza famine pieces were spiked. A secret “antisemitic actors” blacklist—shared with CAA—has A-listers scrambling.

Silver linings? Free Press podcasts cracked the Apple Top 10; Trump praised Weiss on 60 Minutes (“finally a network that gets it”). David Ellison calls it “creative destruction.”