Renowned journalist Bari Weiss will take over as CBS News' editorial director after selling The Free Press to Paramount Skydance for $150 million

Paramount Skydance is ready to pivot and try to save the CBS News network. In fact, it already has a name to lead the transformation: renowned journalist Bari Weiss.

Weiss, 41, known for her combative style and for founding the digital media outlet The Free Press after leaving The New York Times due to editorial and ideological differences, will be named editorial director of the network in the coming days, according to various reports that confirmed the news.

The announcement will be accompanied by a million-dollar deal: Paramount Skydance will acquire The Free Press for about $150 million, in a transaction that combines stock and cash.

The site, which Weiss founded after departing from the NYT and has gained great popularity and recognition for its independent, counter-current, and critical line towards the U.S. media establishment, will continue to operate independently under Paramount's ownership. However, a future integration with CBS News Digital under Weiss' own leadership is not ruled out.

Weiss's appointment, according to reports, marks a profound restructuring at the network. The journalist will report directly to Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, breaking with the current traditional structure in which the CBS News presidency had editorial control. Some sources who spoke to the New York Post said the move raises questions about the future of the division's current president, Tom Cibrowski, and opens the door to internal tensions at historic newsrooms such as "60 Minutes."

Insiders acknowledge that the arrival of Weiss, who has been praised in recent years in the conservative world for her criticism of the progressive and woke media establishment, could provoke resistance within CBS.

“It would be like dropping a grenade” in the newsroom, one network veteran told the NYP.

Despite the speculation, Paramount says the goal is to revamp the third-largest news force in U.S. television and incorporate more diverse voices into its coverage. It is presumed that there will be an effort to include more conservative analysts in the day-to-day.

The deal comes after months of negotiations between Weiss and Ellison, who were spotted together in July during the Allen & Co. summit in Sun Valley. 

With the acquisition, Ellison is clearly looking to give CBS News a new direction, a network that has been widely questioned for its ideological leanings, editorial bias and even faced a lawsuit by President Donald Trump over the handling of an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris.

Now, with Weiss at the helm, the immediate challenge is to revitalize a declining traditional media outlet and demonstrate that The Free Press, with its innovative approach to journalism, can become a strategic asset within the Paramount ecosystem.