Exclusive | Bari Weiss caught in dysfunctional ‘Cold War’ power struggle with CBS News president: ‘Two feuding parents’
CBS News boss Bari Weiss has been locked in a power struggle with the network’s president that critics claim is hamstringing the newsroom — and staffers are wagering that one of them gets ousted if ratings continue to flop this fall, The Post has learned.
Weiss — a 42-year-old opinion writer who was named editor-in-chief last October — has a mandate from her boss David Ellison, CEO of CBS parent Paramount Skydance, to push the left-leaning network toward a common-sense middle. Sources say Weiss has an eye on restoring the home of Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite with hard news and enterprise reporting.
She has been at odds with CBS News President Tom Cibrowski — a TV veteran from ABC News who spent years producing the top-ranked “Good Morning America” and “World News Tonight”. Sources said the 58-year-old executive favors softer coverage that’s more squarely aimed at Middle America, including weather reports and feel-good animal videos.
CBS News employees feel like they are “caught in the middle” of “two feuding parents” with conflicting editorial visions, according to a CBS source. The result, according to sources, has been day-to-day confusion — with staffers often freezing up and doing nothing.
“It’s a Cold War,” one prominent network staffer told The Post. “We just want one side to win so we can do our jobs.”
A quirk of the conflict is that, as was the case in the Cold War, there’s no overt hostility between Weiss and Cibrowski in the newsroom, according to sources. Indeed, an insider said it’s not a personality clash per se and that in some cases the pair “work together very well”.
“Tom likes Bari,” a network source close to Cibrowski said. “He thinks she’s smart and has good ideas.”
At the end of the day, however, multiple sources speculated that this fall could descend into an episode of “Survivor,” where Weiss is giving Cibrowski “enough rope to hang himself” so she can replace him with a more like-minded exec. Meanwhile, the ABC contingent is “waiting” for Weiss to get the boot so Cibrowski can get her job.
For Weiss, the bottom line may be whether “60 Minutes” — whose season kickoff on Sunday included a Norah O’Donnell interview with a US Air Force officer whose plane was shot down over Iran — can maintain its ratings dominance.
That’s after headline-grabbing turnover this summer that has included the exits of star correspondents Scott Pelley, Anderson Cooper, Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega.
Meanwhile, Cibrowski, who is overseeing “CBS Mornings” and “CBS Evening News,” is under the gun as the two marquee shows continue to slide deeper into last place. This month, he tapped O’Donnell to replace Tony Dokoupil, who decamped for the “Evening News” in January — to join full-time co-hosts Gayle King and Nate Burleson.
Cibrowski is expected to roll out more changes, including a format tweak that will take cues from MS Now’s live “Morning Joe”.
“It all comes down to the ratings,” a second CBS source said. “Who’s going to get fired first, Bari for ’60’ or Tom for ‘CBS Mornings’ and ‘CBS Evening News’?’”
Indeed, sources told The Post that Weiss and Cibrowski are trying to lay low and not “become a problem” for Ellison, who is fending off a lawsuit that seeks to block Paramount’s $81 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, home of HBO and CNN.
A CBS spokesperson called reports of problems between Weiss and Cibrowski “baseless gossip,” claiming that “none of it is true.”
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“CBS News is firing on all cylinders and working more collaboratively than ever,” the spokesperson added. “We’re very excited about season 59 of 60 Minutes.”
Sources said Team Cibrowski includes high ranking ex-ABCers Wendy Fisher, senior vice president of editorial; David Reiter, senior vice president of CBS News 24/7; Washington DC bureau chief Mark Lima and investigative chief Matt Mosk.
“There’s a mini ABC mafia who all have each other’s back,” said a third CBS insider.
While some claim the ex-ABC group is trying to “clean up” Weiss’ missteps, others griped that Cibrowski’s contingent is ignoring her agenda to focus on lighter “news you can use” segments more associated with Disney-owned ABC.
“The ABC people think the Bari people don’t understand TV,” the CBS insider told The Post. “Bari has a more intellectual take on the news” and she “looks down at the ABC people for their stories on weather and things like that.”
The conflict is playing out under a lopsided leadership structure that has Weiss overseeing the editorial operations of the network and reporting directly to Ellison. Meanwhile, Cibrowski runs TV operations and reports to CBS CEO George Cheeks, who in turn reports to Ellison.
As previously reported by The Post, the two executives have separate PR teams, occupy different floors of CBS’ Midtown Broadcast Center and have built their own inner circles.
A chief complaint from staffers is that Weiss and her top lieutenant Charles Forelle lack managerial prowess to hold people accountable for not executing their orders. Weiss has urged staffers to delve into topics like Dr. Anthony Fauci’s controversial Senate hearings and whether Europe would finally embrace air conditioning amid this summer’s deadly heatwave.
Instead, “Evening News” executive producer Kim Harvey has been greenlighting animal segments because Cibrowski wants them and “she wants to keep her job,” according to a source close to the network.
One person added that Weiss, who sources remarked is stretched thin, does not usually follow up and moves on to the next thing too quickly – which has fostered a culture of paying lip service but not executing.
A source with knowledge of the matter told The Post that Forelle has quietly put out feelers to replace Harvey in recent months, but he hasn’t followed through.
While few disagree that the last-place CBS News and its marquee shows are in need of change, one former TV exec told The Post that Weiss’ “fail fast” start-up approach doesn’t jibe in the fragile world of television, which is struggling to maintain viewers.
“The changes she has made normally take place over the course of several seasons and they’re done seamlessly,” the person said, noting that viewership is easily lost and nearly impossible to rebuild. “This is too much, too soon.”
