Paramount Acquires The Free Press and Appoints Bari Weiss as CBS News Chief
Paramount has finalized its acquisition of The Free Press, an independent media outlet established on Substack, and appointed Bari Weiss, its founder, as the new editor-in-chief of CBS News. The $150 million deal, confirmed on October 6, 2025, comes as Weiss aims to maintain a diverse range of perspectives within the network, reports 24brussels.
This move places Weiss at the helm of CBS News after her tenure at The New York Times as an op-ed editor and her previous role at The Wall Street Journal. Weiss resigned from the NYT in 2020, citing an “illiberal environment” as her reason for departure. Since then, she has launched a successful Substack newsletter named Common Sense, which later transitioned into The Free Press. The publication reports an impressive 82 percent revenue growth over the past year and an 86 percent rise in subscribers, totaling 1.5 million, with 170,000 of those being paid subscriptions.
Weiss’s new position follows a controversial legal settlement with the Trump administration, which coerced CBS into a $16 million agreement after airing an interview with 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Furthermore, as part of a merger approval between Skydance and Paramount, the network agreed to diversify its political viewpoints on air, reinforcing the context for Weiss’s appointment, which is likely to align with this directive.
Paramount did not disclose the specific terms of the acquisition, but reports suggest it included a combination of cash and stock valued at $150 million. Weiss will continue to lead The Free Press while undertaking her new responsibilities at CBS News, where she aims to enhance representation of voices across the ideological spectrum, according to a memo from Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison. This dual role underscores the strategic positioning of both Weiss and Paramount in an evolving media landscape.
