---
title: "Bari Weiss named editor-in-chief at CBS News"
description: "☀️ Happy Thursday! The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information. Sign up here! In today’s email: 🔥 Featured story Bari Weiss has been named editor-in-chief at CBS News, network owner Paramount Skydance announced this week. Weiss founded digital media startup The Free Press – acquired by Paramount for $150 million – after […]"
date: "2025-10-09"
authors:
  - name: "Jacob Liedke"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/newsletter/the-briefing/bari-weiss-named-editor-in-chief-at-cbs-news/"
---

# Bari Weiss named editor-in-chief at CBS News

**☀️ Happy Thursday!** *The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information*.* [**Sign up here!**](https://www.pewresearch.org/sign-up-for-the-briefing/)*

**In today*’*s email:**

- **Featured story:** Bari Weiss named editor-in-chief at CBS News

- **In other news:** Chicago journalists sue Trump administration

- **Looking ahead:** AI video app Sora tops charts

- **Chart of the week:** What Americans see as the risks of AI

🔥 **Featured story**

**Bari Weiss** has been [named editor-in-chief](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/business/media/paramount-bari-weiss-free-press-cbs-news.html) at **CBS News,** network owner Paramount Skydance announced this week. Weiss founded digital media startup **The Free Press** – acquired by Paramount for $150 million – after she left The New York Times in 2020. In her [resignation letter to the Times](https://nypost.com/2020/07/14/bari-weiss-on-why-she-left-the-new-york-times/), Weiss criticized a culture she said was not open to certain viewpoints.

**Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison** [called Weiss](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/business/media/paramount-bari-weiss-free-press-cbs-news.html) a “proven champion of independent, principled journalism” and said he wants CBS News to “be at the forefront of a much-needed transformation in how news is gathered, reported and delivered.” Weiss this week sent a note to staff outlining [10 principles that will guide her leadership at CBS News](https://www.axios.com/2025/10/06/bari-weiss-free-press-skydance-paramount-cbs-memo), emphasizing accuracy, fairness and nonpartisan journalism.

**Most Americans have long said that news organizations tend to favor one side** (rather than deal fairly with all sides) when presenting news on political and social issues, with 77% taking this view in a [2024 Pew Research Center survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/12/02/most-americans-continue-to-say-media-scrutiny-keeps-politicians-from-doing-things-they-shouldnt/sr_24-12-2_media-watchdog_3/). And while majorities of the public describe most journalists as intelligent (63%) and well-intentioned (58%), more than half also say most journalists are biased (58%), according to a [2025 Center survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2025/08/20/how-americans-view-journalists-and-their-role-in-society/#how-do-americans-describe-journalists). Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say that “biased” describes most journalists well (74% vs. 45%).

📌 **In other news**

- **Chicago journalists **[sue the Trump administration](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/07/chicago-protests-lawsuit-journalists-00596425), alleging “extreme brutality” from federal agents

- **Pentagon **officials [relax some press restrictions](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/business/media/trump-pentagon-reporters-press.html) but [proceed with others](https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/08/media/pentagon-hegseth-press-reporter-rules) despite criticism

- **Pope Leo XIV** [expresses support for free press](https://apnews.com/article/pope-free-press-media-journalists-c826e0567122d6fa7c094850787c1a39), urging journalists to stand strong and “never sell out” their authority

- **Sen. Ted Cruz** [advocates for restrictions on government censorship](https://www.foxnews.com/media/censorship-wrong-cruz-revives-push-bill-make-easier-sue-government-amid-kimmel-return) of media

- **Megyn Kelly** to get her own [SiriusXM channel](https://deadline.com/2025/10/megyn-kelly-siriusxm-channel-1236574331/) as part of multi-year deal

- A [closer look](https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/interactive/2025/tiktok-addiction-algorithm-scrolling-mental-health/) at how **TikTok **keeps its users on the app

- Are [independent reporters](https://www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/watchdog-journalisms-future-may-lie-in-the-work-of-independent-reporters-like-pablo-torre/) the future of **watchdog journalism?**

- Rothschild family [seeks to sell its share](https://www.axios.com/2025/10/07/economist-news-owners-rothschild-family-stake) in **The Economist**

📅 **Looking ahead**

**Sora,** OpenAI’s new video-generation app, has [risen to the No. 1 spot on Apple’s App Store](https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/03/openai-sora-apple-app-store.html) since its release last week, despite only being available to those with an invitation code. But experts warn that the app, which generates realistic short-form videos using AI, could [make it easier to spread false information](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/technology/sora-openai-video-disinformation.html). The app has already been used to create convincing – though entirely fabricated – videos of crimes, arrests, terror attacks and more.

**Many Americans do not feel confident in their ability to distinguish AI-generated content from real content.** According to a [recent Center survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2025/09/17/how-americans-view-ai-and-its-impact-on-people-and-society/#detecting-content-created-by-ai-versus-humans), most Americans (76%) say it’s extremely or very important to be able to tell if pictures, videos and text were made by AI or people.** **But just 12% of U.S. adults are extremely or very confident they can detect if something was made by AI, while 53% are not too or not at all confident.

📊 **Chart of the week**

This week’s chart comes from a [recent Center report on how Americans view AI.](https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2025/09/17/americans-on-the-risks-benefits-of-ai-in-their-own-words/) We asked the 57% of Americans who rate the risks of AI for society as high or very high *why they feel this way*. In their open-ended responses, 18% said the main reason they feel this way is **the negative impact AI could have on accurate information**, such as making it harder to tell what is real and what is created by AI.

As one respondent in his 30s said: “Misinformation is already a huge problem and AI can create misinformation a lot faster than people can.”

![Americans who see high risks from AI most commonly cite ‘erosion of human skills and connections’ as the reason](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/PS_2024.9.15_AI-and-its-impact_3-02.png?w=488)

*👋 That’s all for this week. *

The Briefing is compiled by Pew Research Center staff, including Naomi Forman-Katz, Jacob Liedke, Christopher St. Aubin, Luxuan Wang, Emily Tomasik, and Joanne Haner. It is edited by Michael Lipka and copy edited by Anna Jackson.

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