Paramount buys ‘Free Press’, ushering in new era at CBS News

Paramount said Monday that it was buying The Free Press, a digital news site founded as an alternative to traditional news organisations, and appointing its co-founder, Bari Weiss, as the editor-in-chief of CBS News.

- BENJAMIN MULLIN LAUREN HIRSCH MICHAEL GRYNBAUM

The co-founders of The Free Press, from left, Suzy Weiss, Bari Weiss, and Nellie Bowles.

(PARAMOUNT/REUTERS)

The purchase price was roughly $150 million in cash and Paramount stock, according to two people familiar with the terms who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The total amount will be paid out over time, and it may fluctuate depending on the price of Paramount's stock.

The deal ushers in a new era for CBS News, the storied home of Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite, which has new corporate leadership at Paramount. Ms Weiss, 41, has never run a TV network, and in her role will have influence over hundreds of producers, anchors and reporters around the world. She will report to David Ellison, Paramount's CEO, and work alongside Tom Cibrowski, the president of CBS News.

“We are thrilled to welcome Bari and The Free Press to Paramount and CBS News,” Mr Ellison said in a statement. “Bari is a proven champion of independent, principled journalism, and I am confident her entrepreneurial drive and editorial vision will invigorate CBS News.”

The deal is also a major victory for Ms Weiss and The Free Press, a site started just four years ago. Ms Weiss positioned the publication as a bulwark of honest journalism in what she has described as an increasingly timid and untrustworthy media landscape. It now has more than 50 employees and offices on both coasts and has attracted some well-known journalists.