All eyes on Weiss: new CBS news chief keeps US guessing

When it was first rumoured that Bari Weiss might take charge of America's most talked-about newsroom, hearts sank across the liberal US.

- Jonathan Lewis

"A throwing-up emoji is not enough of a reflection of the feelings," one CBS News employee texted. Jamelle Bouie, a New York Times columnist, called it "a heartwarming story of how being an unethical and talentless hack is no barrier to success".

And then a strange thing happened. Media watchers on both sides of the political divide became cautiously optimistic.

President Donald Trump is engaged in a multipronged attack on media outlets that challenge him, suing the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, and extracting eight-figure bounties from ABC and CBS to settle lawsuits based on little more than his hurt feelings.

Weiss is founder of the right-leaning Free Press website, but the assumption that her move to CBS News is another sop to Trump has been questioned. Jacob Weisberg, former editor-in-chief of Slate, said he admired what Weiss created. Daniel Suhr, a campaigner against leftwing media bias, called the move "a significant step toward better broadcasting for the American people".