ESG (Environmental Social, and Governance)

Bari Weiss’ CBS News Unveils Major Cuts Amid Industry Shakeup

(Screenshot via X/MSNBC)

CBS News is laying off roughly 6% of its employees and shuttering its radio division, according to multiple reports on Friday.

The cuts follow approximately 100 staffers being let go when CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss took over in October, which were part of Paramount’s layoffs of about 1,000 employees. Two internal notes from Weiss and CBS News president Tom Cibrowski on Friday were shared with the Daily Caller News Foundation.

“Today we are reducing the size of our workforce, and employees who are affected will be notified by the end of the day. We recognize that this is a difficult time for those who will be leaving CBS News … It’s no secret that the news business is changing radically, and that we need to change along with it,” they wrote in the first note. “New audiences are burgeoning in new places, and we are pressing forward with ambitious plans to grow and invest so that we can be there for them. That means some parts of our newsroom must get smaller.”

Their second note announced that CBS News Radio will soon shut down after nearly 100 years.

“Today, we informed our CBS News Radio team and approximately 700 affiliated stations that we will end the service on May 22, 2026,” Weiss and Cibrowski wrote. “Unfortunately, this decision means that all positions within the CBS News Radio team are being eliminated.”

Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison enlisted Weiss as editor-in-chief of CBS News after Paramount acquired her outlet The Free Press for $150 million in October. In addition to layoffs, there has been employee turnover and significant changes to CBS News’ political coverage during Weiss’ tenure.

The CBS News Race and Culture Unit, founded in July 2020, was entirely dismantled as part of the October layoffs.