Free Press' Bari Weiss joins CBS News as editor in chief

BARI Weiss will "shape editorial policies" and lead innovation in how CBS delivers the news, Paramount said.

- BY STEPHEN BATTAGLIO

Paramount has acquired the Free Press, a four-year-old digital news platform, and will make its controversial co-founder Bari Weiss editor in chief of CBS News, the company announced Monday.

The official announcement came after months of speculation on the deal and Weiss' high-profile role within the news division. Weiss, 41, will report to Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison, who personally courted the former New York Times journalist.

The union of the Free Press and CBS News will be one of the most closely watched lab experiments in the modern media era. Weiss has no experience in television or running an editorial operation on the scale of CBS News, which has more than 1,000 employees.

“We are thrilled to welcome Bari and The Free Press to Paramount and CBS News. Bari is a proven champion of independent, principled journalism, and I am confident her entrepreneurial drive and editorial vision will invigorate CBS News,” Ellison said in a statement. “This move is part of Paramount's bigger vision to modernize content and the way it connects — directly and passionately — to audiences around the world.”