After months of backlash from former CBS News employees and left-leaning media figures unhappy with her push for more even-handed journalism, new Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss appears to be gaining momentum where it matters most: the ratings.
CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil drew 6.4 million viewers on January 19, marking its largest audience since 2021. The strong showing comes amid sustained criticism of Weiss from inside and outside the network, with detractors accusing her of disrupting long-standing newsroom norms and ideological priorities.
The first major controversy erupted when Weiss decided to spike an investigative segment by correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi titled “Inside CECOT,” which focused on a notorious prison in El Salvador. Weiss said the piece lacked adequate context and failed to include a response from the Trump administration, a decision that immediately sparked internal outrage. Critics framed the move as censorship, while Weiss defended it as a basic editorial standard aimed at balance and completeness.
The internal revolt intensified when roughly 200 former CBS staffers and media industry figures signed an open letter to Paramount CEO David Ellison. The letter expressed “deep reservations” about Weiss’s leadership and urged Ellison to protect CBS News’s so-called “crown jewel” from what they described as Weiss’s “clumsy editorial interference.” The letter made clear that many within the old guard were uncomfortable with a leadership style that challenged the network’s traditional approach.
Weiss faced further criticism after reports emerged that she had sent a memo to staff requesting detailed breakdowns of their weekly working hours. The move was interpreted by critics as a sign of stricter expectations and a shift away from the more relaxed culture that had previously prevailed in the newsroom.
Skepticism about Weiss was evident even before she formally took the reins. Former CBS News anchor Dan Rather publicly questioned her suitability for the role, saying it was hard to believe she would be an equitable steward of the storied news division. His comments echoed broader concerns from longtime media figures who viewed Weiss as an outsider unwilling to maintain what they saw as established journalistic traditions.
Since then, opposition to Weiss has only grown louder. Critics on the left have accused her of undermining CBS News’s editorial direction by refusing to continue what they view as proper emphasis on progressive perspectives. Some prominent voices have been openly hostile. David Letterman went so far as to call the network a “wreck,” claiming its integrity had been “eviscerated by these idiots that have taken it over.”
International and domestic media outlets have also piled on. The Guardian reported earlier this month that Weiss’s first three months as editor in chief had been more chaotic than even her critics anticipated, quoting one CBS News journalist as saying, “There is blood in the water.” The New York Times similarly noted that Weiss’s efforts to remake CBS News have drawn intense scrutiny and even ridicule.
That criticism spilled onto CBS’s own airwaves during the Golden Globes broadcast. Host Nikki Glaser drew one of the night’s biggest laughs by joking that CBS News had become “America’s newest place to see BS news.”
Yet despite the sustained attacks and internal resistance, the January ratings suggest that viewers may be responding positively to the changes. For Weiss and her supporters, the surge in viewership stands as evidence that demanding balance, accountability, and higher standards may resonate more with the public than the media establishment expected.
