The State-Sponsored Downfall of CBS News
Graphic by Kylie Adedeji
One of the biggest media stories of the decade surrounded the pissing match between the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Larry & David Ellison, billionaire father-son partners-in-crime (emphasis on crime) behind the Oracle Corporation and Skydance Media. Notably, these efforts concerned the Paramount-Skydance merger, reflective of the trend towards corporate media consolidation, anti-trust redundancy, and general lack of diversity and competition within the industry.
While the deal was relatively smooth (given the aforementioned disregard for anti-trust policy within the last 15 years), there was one hold-up, notably a $16 million lawsuit from President Trump, who alleged that CBS News favorably edited an interview with then-Democratic nominee Kamala Harris on their flagship journalistic program, 60 Minutes. Now, in pretty much any prior network-TV era, CBS would’ve rightfully scoffed at the lawsuit, cited editorial freedom, and a lack of demonstrable proof for libel or damages to Trump’s image, and walked out the door. However, stagnation from the FCC in approving Paramount’s merger (perhaps intentionally awaiting a change in said lawsuit’s status), and the Ellisons’ previously ass-kissing for the current regime (including Larry Ellison openly campaigning for re-certification of the 2020 election’s results), CBS unprecedentedly settled for the $16 million, which followed the resignation of both 60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens and CBS News chief executive Wendy McMahon, both citing internal turmoil, worsening journalistic freedom, and fracturing independence from top-brass.
In an effort to fill in that gap, Ellison appointed noted “journalistic” figure Bari Weiss to the role of editor-in-chief of CBS News, which many, like myself, responded with an unsurprising yet firm “...oh for fuck’s sake”.
To understand my vitriol, let’s look at Weiss’ resume. Up until 2020, Bari Weiss served as an opinion writer on politics & culture at the New York Times, a paper she would retrospectively lambast as being “doctrinally liberal” (something I’d agree with, but from the opposite side of the aisle.) During her tenure, she would write such gems as “We’re All Fascists Now”, “The Left’s ‘Post-Truth’ Politician”, “Andrew Yang shows what healthy populism looks like”, and “Ilhan Omar and the Myth of Jewish Hypnosis”. Clearly, quite a reputable pedigree.
From there, Weiss performed the tried-and-true method that faux-journalists utilize when appealing to the right-wing grifter set. In her resignation letter, she pointed blame at Twitter users for ultimately dictating the editorial lean of the Times (ironic, given where the site currently stands), gleefully accepted praise from Ted Cruz, Donald Trump Jr., and Ben Shapiro.
Weiss would carry that momentum into founding The Free Press, a Substack-turned media company, whose name implied that the outlet would finally allow her and her contributors the liberty to convey some greater injustices that mainstream outlets otherwise censored. However, in the grand tradition of appealing to conservative echo-chambers, this freedom solely led to self-aggrandizing, fanning the flames with constant rhetoric surrounding “woke agendas” and the left going “too far”, alongside several instances of uncritical and often parroted misinformation regarding the Israel/Palestinian conflict, domestic protests regarding said issue, and a seeming deflection of criticism levied at Benjamin Netanyahu, labelling all detractors of his as anti-semites (something that would even gain the publication some pushback from conservatives for their seeming lack of interest in student censorship).
Unsurprisingly, however, these ideals played nicely in the hands of the Ellison family, who have donated upwards of $16 million towards the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, which ultimately led to The Free Press’ purchase by the newly merged Paramount-Skydance for $150 million and the subsequent promotion of Weiss to her new editorial role. CBS News has transformed a department responsible for the longest-running nightly news show in broadcast history into seemingly the most shamefully self-aware puppet for conservative and pro-Trump administration talking points.
As such, Weiss’ editorial run opened with an abrupt thud, which was marked to the public through the introduction of new anchor Tony Dokoupil, a rebranding toward “America First” programming, which many took as a dogwhistle for content favorable to a more conservative/MAGA-friendly audience. While the warning signs were obvious, it quickly became evident that “America First” meant active suppression and misinformation intended to protect the faults of the current administration, including cutting a 60 Minutes segment in late December regarding the mistreatment of Venezuelan prisoners deported to El Salvadoran prisons, the intentional parroting of the DHS’ false rhetoric around ICE muder victims Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti regarding their status as domestic terrorists who forced the hands of agents to defend themselves rather than blatant excessive uses of force, and several “kid gloves”-esque interviews with administrative officials such as Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi, and Erika Kirk (not administration connected but point stands).
Now, I can extrapolate some clear points regarding this pivot, whether it be a tracing of historical trends within fascist/authoritarian nations and the weakening of journalistic independence, both Weiss and the Ellisons having notable ties to Israeli loyalty while the nation is in the midst of committing a genocide (and pushes for greater US intervention), or just lamenting how many genuinely talented programs, journalists, and aspiring writers lost a bastion of quality in their field due to bullshit power games (including many in the company, as layoffs are expected due to both Weiss’ disastrous performance and the Ellisons’ oh-so-great relationship with OpenAI’s Sam Altman).
That being said, this change ultimately reflects a greater trend I’ve observed within mainstream media regarding the larger disinterest in industry-leading mastheads as opposed to individual names or shows. Now, I find this possibly encouraging, as it allows creators the opportunity to gain a following and a notable reputation through their own means without needing to confine themselves to the box of a stricter corporate atmosphere. However, I can recognize how gaining said platforms, especially in a less eye-catching field like straightforward journalism in a print-only market, is definitely harder to achieve if you haven’t made a name for yourself prior, not to mention any chance of monetizable stability.
In that respect, I guess I should encourage young journalists to take these shifting tides of negativity as a push to cultivate a more diversified, independent, and personal list of creators who report reputably, yet entertainingly, with a more public interest in mind…or at least try to do so before the Ellisons completely poison the well of TikTok.