CBS News staffers are less than thrilled with the idea of Bari Weiss, the network’s new editor-in-chief, booking herself as the moderator for a televised town hall that will feature Charlie Kirk’s widow.
“How embarrassing,” one network staffer told The Independent. “Bari’s been Editor-in-Chief for five seconds and has revealed that all she really wants is to be on TV herself.”
The Guardian first reported this week that Weiss – the heterodox founder of “anti-woke” digital media outlet The Free Press who was tapped this fall to lead the Tiffany Network’s newsroom – is scheduled to host the event with Erika Kirk, which is set to air December 13 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS News.
The network later issued a press release for the town hall Thursday morning, providing additional details about the event and noting that Kirk “will open up about life, loss, the state of political discourse” following the assassination of her husband three months ago.
“The event, filmed before a studio audience, will feature Kirk fielding questions from young evangelicals, prominent religious leaders and figures across the political spectrum. The conversation will also focus on our country’s political divide – and how we can find our way out,” the network’s press release stated.
“Like so many people around the world, I will never forget the moment that Erika Kirk forgave her husband’s killer,” Weiss said in a statement. “I am eager to speak to her—and thrilled to be doing so in front of a group of Americans who I know will elevate the conversation.”
Kirk, who has assumed the mantle of chairman and CEO of right-wing youth organization Turning Point USA following the death of her spouse, has emerged as a prominent voice in the conservative media and political ecosphere in recent months. Besides sitting down with various right-wing media outlets and podcasters for interviews, she’s appeared at TPUSA live events and closed out the New York Times’ DealBook summit this week.
According to CBS, the one-hour town hall will air on CBS Television Network and stream later on Paramount+ and CBS News 24/7. The special will preempt the network’s previously scheduled broadcast of the 28th annual Family Film and TV Awards, which will be moved to the following Saturday night.
According to a previously unpublicized sign-up form that solicited attendees, the event will be taped before a studio audience in New York City on December 10 at noon. Those who requested to be in attendance for the town hall were asked a series of questions, such as “do you consider yourself a conservative,” whether they are “grieving the loss of a loved one,” and if they are evangelical Christians.
Since Paramount chief David Ellison installed her to lead the newsroom in October, complete with a mandate to hold “both American political parties to equal scrutiny” with CBS News’ coverage, Weiss has been looking to shake things up at the network. This has included her efforts to poach a big-name talent from other news organizations to revamp CBS News’ perennially third-place evening broadcast.
Weiss has also played a significant role in organizing CBS News interviews with influential public figures such as Hillary Clinton and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but had yet to step in front of the camera. Suzy Weiss, Weiss’ sister and co-founder of The Free Press, has already sat down for CBS News segments since Ellison purchased the digital site for $150 million.
However, now that the top editor – who has already been heavily scrutinized by much of the staff over her perceived lack of qualifications in broadcast journalism – has given herself a primetime televised special, employees at the network are less than impressed.
“Bonkers,” one reporter said, adding that the staff was initially left in the dark about this event when The Guardian first reported on it.
“We’ve been told nothing about this officially,” the reporter added. “No emails or press release or anything. It’s absolutely absurd.”
The same source also suggested that Weiss – who reports directly to Ellison – was using her perch atop the newsroom to promote herself. “She wants to be on TV – not make it,” they declared.
The network staffer, who echoed those sentiments, also wondered whether Ellison – who took over Paramount after the politically fraught merger with Skydance Media was approved by the Trump administration in August – was perhaps already regretting his hiring of Weiss.
“It doesn’t get more toe-curling than this,” the staffer said. “David Ellison must be mortified by his $150 million investment in someone who’s so quickly revealed themselves to be the most shallow, least interesting person in TV news.”
While Weiss has made her presence known within the newsroom since arriving, whether it’s replicating Elon Musk with a Department of Government Efficiency-style email to staff, wanting to take down the network’s Standards and Practices unit or stepping in to save a correspondent’s job over his pro-Israel views, she hasn’t spoken much publicly about her vision for the newsroom.
During an appearance at the Jewish Leadership Conference last month, however, she did express her desire to reach out and appeal to “the people that are on the center-left and the center-right,” pointing to a Free Press debate she moderated between former Jeffrey Epstein lawyer Alan Dershowitz and ex-NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch as prime example.
“This is an opportunity to speak for the 75 percent, for the people that are on the center-left and the center-right, that still believe in equality of opportunity, that still believe passionately in the American project,” she said. “That used to just be normal.”
Weiss added: “And the goal of what we’re trying to do at CBS is to get back to that normalcy, and I feel incredibly energized and enthusiastic, because I think that is where the vast majority of Americans actually are.”
