NEW YORK — Bari Weiss is reshaping CBS News after Paramount Skydance acquired her subscriber-funded outlet The Free Press, setting in motion a rapid talent and leadership reset aimed at restoring audience trust and reversing a slide in nightly viewership, Dec. 16, 2025.
The overhaul is unfolding through a new leadership structure and high-profile hires — a strategy meant to broaden CBS’ audience but also one that has reignited debate about how a newsroom long associated with straight-ahead broadcast reporting adapts to a more polarized, subscription-driven media era.
Bari Weiss moves quickly to reshape CBS News
Paramount, a Skydance Corporation, announced the acquisition in early October and installed Weiss as CBS News editor in chief, saying her job will be to shape editorial priorities across platforms while The Free Press continues operating as an independent brand. In its announcement, CBS News said The Free Press has 1.5 million subscribers, including more than 170,000 paid.
The companies did not publicly disclose financial terms. But Reuters reported earlier that a source familiar with the matter pegged the deal at about $150 million, and noted the reaction to Weiss’ appointment was mixed — with some media critics questioning whether a prominent opinion writer rather than a broadcast newsroom veteran should be steering a major network news division.
Tony Dokoupil tapped for the “CBS Evening News” desk
CBS is also rebooting its flagship evening broadcast. The network named “CBS Mornings” co-host Tony Dokoupil as the next anchor of the “CBS Evening News” starting Jan. 5, 2026, a move described in a Reuters report about the revamp as one of Weiss’ first major decisions since taking the job.
The Associated Press reported that Dokoupil will replace the anchor team of John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois, both of whom announced in recent months that they were leaving the network. The AP said CBS’ evening broadcast has long ranked third among the network newscasts and has been down year over year as ABC and NBC remain dominant.
Weiss defended the choice as a trust play, saying: “We live in a time in which many people have lost trust in the media. Tony Dokoupil is the person to win it back.” Dokoupil, in a statement announcing the move, pledged “a commitment to trust and the plain truth.”
Matt Gutman joins CBS News as chief correspondent
Weiss’ push to refresh CBS’ on-air roster extends beyond the anchor desk. In another announcement, CBS News said it hired longtime ABC News correspondent Matt Gutman as chief correspondent, starting Jan. 5, 2026, with a base in Los Angeles. CBS said Gutman will report for “CBS Mornings” and “CBS Evening News,” serve as a lead correspondent for “48 Hours,” contribute to future seasons of “60 Minutes” and act as a fill-in anchor.
Weiss called Gutman a journalist who “goes there,” praising his “fearlessness, energy and relentlessness” as CBS tries to compete in a media landscape where audiences increasingly encounter breaking news through phones, streaming services and social platforms.
Why the CBS News overhaul is controversial
Weiss arrives at CBS with a national profile built as much on cultural arguments as on journalism — a résumé that supporters say can help CBS reach viewers who feel alienated from legacy media, but one that critics fear could blur the distinction between reporting and commentary. The debate has intensified as CBS elevates figures who have previously been at the center of internal newsroom disputes.
Dokoupil, for instance, drew scrutiny after a contentious Sept. 30, 2024, interview with author Ta-Nehisi Coates about Israel and Palestinians. CBS News leadership later reprimanded him, and an internal phone call about the episode was leaked to The Free Press — edited by Weiss, The AP has reported — adding fuel to a public argument over whether hard questioning had been mistaken for bias.
How Weiss’ career arc set the stage
The tensions around Weiss’ new role are years in the making. AP reported in 2020 that Weiss resigned from The New York Times’ opinion section after publishing a letter alleging harassment and a hostile work environment from colleagues who disagreed with her views.
By 2022, she and her team were marketing The Free Press as a subscription-driven alternative to mainstream outlets. In a 2022 interview, Axios detailed Weiss’ business plan and the early growth strategy that helped turn the publication into an influential platform.
At CBS, the boundary between toughness and “perceived bias” had already become a flashpoint. The AP reported in 2024 that CBS executives reprimanded Dokoupil after the Coates interview, a dispute that foreshadowed the scrutiny CBS now faces as Weiss reshapes the newsroom.
With Dokoupil and Gutman slated to start their new roles in January, the next test for Weiss’ CBS News vision will be whether these headline-making changes translate into steadier ratings and renewed trust — and whether CBS can modernize without losing the credibility that once made it appointment television.
