CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss will announce a slate of new contributors for the network on Tuesday during an all-hands meeting with staff, sources told Axios.
Why it matters: The contributors are part of a broader effort by Weiss to change CBS to align with a set of journalistic principles and guidelines she introduced in October.
- Many of those changes, including delaying a recent "60 Minutes" episode, have ruffled the feathers of longtime staffers who worry they threaten the network's editorial independence.
- Weiss was hired in October after CBS parent Paramount acquired her news startup, The Free Press. Weiss reports directly to Paramount CEO and chair David Ellison.
Zoom in: The new list of contributors includes mostly podcasters and independent writers who will now have access to a large audience across CBS News' platforms, including television.
- Some of those personalities are existing columnists and contributors for The Free Press, including conservative historian Niall Ferguson and Patrick McGee, who covers the tech industry and China.
- The new lineup of contributors also features popular science podcasters Andrew Huberman and Peter Attia, prominent New York chef Clare de Boer, best-selling cookbook author Caroline Chambers and journalist Casey Lewis, who writes a Substack focused on Gen-Z and Gen Alpha trends.
Between the lines: Weiss is importing an upstart newsroom model into a legacy media organization, prioritizing independent voices with built-in, loyal followings that could boost the cultural relevance of CBS News.
- The new lineup will test the newsroom's comfort with contributors who bring a sharper and more opinionated voice than the network has traditionally embraced.
- Huberman — a Stanford neurobiology professor who hosts a massively popular health podcast and has nearly 8 million followers on Instagram — has faced criticism for oversimplifying and sometimes misrepresenting complex research.
- Dr. Mark Hyman, another new CBS News contributor, is closely aligned with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the MAHA movement.
What's next: Weiss plans to use a Tuesday morning town hall with CBS News staffers to outline her broader strategy and priorities for the newsroom.
