Today Paramount Skydance, the parent of CBS News, announced the acquisition of The Free Press (https://www.thefp.com ) for $150 million in cash and stock, a hefty price for a news organization that has 1.5 million subscribers, but only 175,000 pay. With the acquisition comes Bari Weiss, an outspoken journalist, with a large following. In four short years The Free Press has gathered a stable of writers that include Nellie Bowles* (Weiss' spouse), Jed Rubenfeld, Tyler Cowan, Niall Ferguson, Jonathan Haidt, Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Charles Lane, among others.
Weiss will become CBS News' editor-in-chief and will directly report to Paramount CEO David Ellison. Weiss' strong positions against wokeness in the newsroom and her support for Israel will bring a breath of fresh air to stultifying leftwing conformism of CBS. Her goal will be to broadcast news for the broad middle of the American public, namely the center-left and the center-right. "60 Minutes" and the evening news will soon look quite a bit different.
If she succeeds it would help breakdown the algorithmic programming of social media that is designed to split the country apart in rage. It would also be a wake up call for NBC and CBS as well as the hoity toity New York Times from where Weiss was forced out by a woke ruled newsroom in 2020.
It is said that living well is the best revenge. With the takeover of The Free Press, founders Weiss, Nellie Bowles and sister Suzy Weiss are now quite rich. Dare I say it, Weiss is now richer than anyone in the New York Times newsroom. Needless to say, this will not go unnoticed.
As a paid subscriber to The Free Press, I can only wish Bari the best.
*- Just to note I was banned from publishing book reviews on Amazon over Nellie Bowles' book. (See: https://shulmaven.blogspot.com/2024/06/my-amazon-review-of-nellie-bowles.html )
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