Paramount followed up on its promise to the Trump administration to appoint an ombudsman to root out “complaints of bias” at CBS News by naming longtime conservative think tank leader Kenneth R. Weinstein to the position on Monday.
Besides previously serving as the Hudson Institute’s president and CEO, Weinstein was also nominated by Donald Trump in 2020 to serve as the United States Ambassador to Japan and was appointed as a member of the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations by Trump in 2018.
“In this role, Weinstein will serve as an independent, internal advocate for journalistic integrity and transparency, reviewing concerns raised by employees and viewers, addressing questions about news coverage, and upholding the organization’s longstanding commitment to accuracy and accountability,” Paramount stated in a Monday press release.
Touting the move, Paramount President Jeff Shell said that he was looking “forward to welcoming Ken as our new Ombudsman” while suggesting that the appointment would help restore public trust in the mainstream and legacy press.
“At a time when trust in media is more important than ever, this new role reinforces our commitment to truth, trust, and accountability. I’ve known him for many years and have great respect for his integrity, sound judgment, and thoughtful approach to complex issues,” Shell said. “Ken brings not only a wealth of advisory experience in media and beyond but also a calm, measured perspective that makes him exceptionally well-suited to serve as our Ombudsman.”
Weinstein, who now serves as the Japan Chair at the Hudson Institute, said he was “honored” by the new role at CBS News, which he called “one of the most respected journalistic institutions in the world.” He added that he looked “forward to supporting the talented team behind its reporting and to stewarding public trust in this critical institution.”
In its press release, Paramount stated that under the newly established position, the ombudsman would review “complaints from consumers, employees and others” about CBS News coverage and determine if they require further action. If Weinstein determines a complaint warrants additional action, it will be raised to Shell and Chair of TV Media George Cheeks.
“After assessing the complaint, and if they collectively determine that such outreach is necessary, Weinstein, Shell, and Cheeks will address the complaint with the President and Executive Editor of CBS News, Tom Cibrowski, who will recommend and implement any necessary action steps,” Paramount concluded. According to a Paramount spokesperson, complaints reviewed by the ombudsman will not be made public.
Besides his work for the Hudson Institute, Weinstein served on the National Council for the Humanities under George W. Bush and was nominated in 2013 by Barack Obama to sit on the Broadcast Board of Governors (now the U.S. Agency for Global Media), which oversees Voice of America and Radio Free Europe.
During the first Trump administration, Weinstein was elected chairman of the BBG and was appointed to the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations. Trump also nominated Weinstein to serve as the ambassador to Japan in March 2020. Though his nomination was advanced out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that fall, he was never confirmed by the full Senate, as debate over Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s replacement in the Supreme Court and the November presidential election placed a stop to his confirmation.
Weinstein also donated over $10,000 to the Republican National Committee last year. As Jeremy Barr of The Washington Post noted on Monday, while some of the contributions were for the GOP’s national convention, the majority of his donations were earmarked for the “Trump 47 Committee.”
The announcement of Weinstein as the CBS News ombudsman comes just days after Paramount, which officially closed on the politically fraught Skydance merger last month, implemented new rules for interviews on its Sunday news show Face the Nation following complaints from the White House.
After CBS initially defended its decision to trim an interview with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem “for time,” which Noem claimed was “shamefully edited,” Paramount leadership effectively sided with the administration amid ongoing public pressure. The excised portion of the interview included Noem making a series of unproven allegations against migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
According to The New York Times, Cheeks consulted with Cibrowski and concluded that “the network needed to take steps to ensure that a similar situation would not reoccur,” adding that the move “was endorsed by David Ellison, the chief executive of Paramount.” Going forward, all interviews on Face the Nation will be broadcast live or live-to-tape, unless there are national security or legal concerns.
“CBS News' new surrender to Trump is an open invitation to Trumpers to lie on their network,” The New Republic’s Greg Sargent wrote about the new policy.
Additionally, CBS News staffers are bracing for the likelihood that Ellison will not only purchase the anti-woke, pro-Israel digital media outlet The Free Press to be part of the news division, but will also install its founder Bari Weiss in a senior news leadership position. At the same time, while Ellison seems poised to pay a premium price for Weiss’ startup, his executive team is preparing to make painful cuts to the network.
“For employees already demoralized by years of cutbacks, the optics will certainly be enraging,” Status News’ Oliver Darcy observed last week. “And make no mistake: this isn’t about financial prudence. It’s about politics. Ellison is paying not for a strong business asset, but to send a signal to the anti-mainstream media crowd that CBS News is being reshaped.”
Meanwhile, House Democrats are currently investigating Paramount over the merger process and whether any anti-bribery laws were violated.
Ahead of the president’s administration approving the $8 billion merger with Skydance, Paramount paid Trump $16 million to settle a “meritless” lawsuit over the editing of a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris, sparking allegations that the company “bribed” the president. Furthermore, the investigation is also digging into the circumstances surrounding the cancellation of vocal Trump critic Stephen Colbert’s late-night CBS show.
On top of that, Trump boasted about a “side deal” he reached with Ellison – then the head of Skydance – to air up to $20 million of pro-Trump advertisements on CBS programming once the deal was closed. Ellison, for his part, has remained mum about the matter. All the while, the president has openly praised Ellison as a “great man” who will “do the right thing” at CBS.
Additionally, Democrats are looking into the promise Skydance made to Trump’s handpicked FCC chairman Brendan Carr just days before the agency approved the merger. At the time, Skydance’s counsel told Carr that the new Paramount would install an ombudsman for two years to conduct a “comprehensive review” of “complaints of bias” at CBS News, as well as eliminate all diversity hiring processes.
“As a condition of the merger, Skydance also agreed to make changes to CBS and its editorial practices that align with the Trump Administration’s political agenda, including a commitment to eliminate ‘perceived bias’ in its reporting, the hiring of an ombudsman to police the news organization’s editorial choices, and the dismantling of any initiatives aimed at promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion,” the House Democrats noted in their letter to Ellison last month.
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