Bari Weiss memo sparks confusion at CBS News

To write or not to write?

CBS News staff were grappling with conflicting orders Monday, according to three people familiar with the matter, after some producers at the Paramount Skydance news unit urged reporters and reporters to respond to an embarrassing memo from new editor-in-chief Bari Weiss that drew criticism last week from the Writers Guild of America. In the memo, Weiss asked staffers to tell her “how you spend your work hours” and what they thought of CBS News, so that she and the editors could be “aligned on achieving a shared vision for CBS News.”

Hours after the memo surfaced, the WGA advised CBS News union members not to respond to the missive until CBS provided more details about its purpose, including whether their responses could serve as a “basis for disciplinary action, termination, or termination.”

Weiss was named editor-in-chief of CBS News last week by David Ellison, CEO of Paramount Skydance, and the CBS News staff has been in turmoil since then. Weiss, a digital entrepreneur and opinion writer who founded The Free Press, has no experience running a mainstream television news outlet and little experience helping traditional journalists navigate the challenges of finding facts. She has a direct line to Ellison, while Tom Cibrowski, a former ABC executive who became president of CBS News earlier this year, was tasked with working alongside Weiss and providing expertise.

CBS News declined to make executives available for comment.

Paramount’s current drama unfolds as most employees fear losing their jobs. Paramount executives have announced plans to significantly reduce the company’s workforce in order to reduce costs. Details of the layoffs are expected to be revealed in Paramount’s next earnings report.

A person familiar with the newsroom said employees faced “massive confusion” because some of their superiors urged them to send memos to Weiss, and their union told them the exact opposite. Some producers are not covered by a collective bargaining agreement at CBS News and may feel pressure to get their employees to follow the new boss’s orders, according to people familiar with the matter.

There are good reasons to upset CBS News. The division has suffered from a parade of top executives in recent years, with none able to buck recent trends and gain more ground for the weekday standards “CBS Evening News” and “CBS Mornings,” which continue to remain in third place compared to time slot competitors NBC News and ABC News. At the same time, CBS News already enjoys hard-earned trust among a broad audience, and its “CBS Sunday Morning” and “60 Minutes” channels are among the most recognizable news brands on television. According to the Pew Research Center, among U.S. adults who have at least some trust in the information they receive from national news organizations, 51% trust CBS News. Only ABC News and NBC News enjoy greater trust among this group, and CBS News is tied with CNN and PBS.