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CBS has shifted its program from reporting the news to becoming the daily news. CBS’s head honcho, Bari Weiss, AKA ‘slasher babe,’ has slashed another valuable staffer from its roster.
To Bari Weiss: the steps she has taken are decisive and perhaps controversial.
However, her leadership approach invites scrutiny and deep discussion among the news industry insiders.
The latest “victim” of Ms. Weiss’s Samauri Sword? Sharyn Alfonsi is a journalist and a 60 Minutes producer.
The latest staff change, Sharyn Alfonsi’s departure, underscores the significant shifts under Weiss’s leadership.
In a way, one could say that Sharyn Alfonsi asked to be taken to the woodshed.
Ms. Alfonsi fought the boss, and the boss won. But Ms. Weiss’ victory could turn out to be a sweet taste in her mouth, or a bitter taste in her belly.
Becoming the news rather than reporting it has some people wondering whether this is a strategy designed by Weiss to keep CBS relevant.
While others are thinking out loud that Weiss is swimming in corporate waters with sharks, or that she is way out of her depth.
CBS Bari Weiss Becomes the News Again.
Sharyn Alfonsi’s woodshed moment came after she critized weiss for playing footsie with the Trump Administration.
According to Alfonsi, Bari Weiss had led CBS News into becoming a “propaganda-palooza” for the President.
The accusation raises concerns about CBS’s integrity, ethics, and leadership.
To many strong-willed CBS staffers, Bari Weiss is playing dress-up. They see Weiss as the six-year-old kid who puts on mom’s high-heeled shoes, a wig, and paints on lipstick and walks around the house with mommy’s handbag.
Before taking the helm at CBS, Weiss ran a newsletter called The Free Press.
Bari Weiss’ “The Free Press” was founded by Weiss and her wife, Nellie Bowles, in 2021.
In October of 2025, Paramount Skydance, a media conglomerate owned by Larry and David Ellison, acquired the “Free Press” for $150 million.
The acquisition deal of “The Free Press” includes Bari Weiss taking over as editor-in-chief of CBS News. Since then, CBS News has been in a tailspin.
Weiss has gone from the usual trimming of the fat to a “staff shake up” in what seems like every month. Weiss’s topsy-turvy management style left sane insiders questioning whether it’s a malice or a competency issue.
There are times when a person from “The Land of Lilliputs” fares well in that city.
However, trading in the family’s cow for green beans doesn’t always translate into a Jack and the Beanstalk ending.
It sometimes turns out like a mouse sitting in a giant’s chair playing the big cheese.
The Gutting of 60 Minutes. Scott Pelley Likes to Complain.
CBS Scott Pelley also complained himself out of a job.
On Thursday, May 28, Weiss refused to renew Sharyn Alfonsi’s contract. She also decided not to retain Ms. Alfonsi as a freelance journalist.
Alfonsi has been complaining loudly about Weiss killing a segment she did on CECOT (Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo), a notorious organization in El Salvador.
In 2017, CBS declined to renew the contract of senior reporter and anchor Scott Pelley.
Pellley, like Alfonsi, often bumped heads with upper management.
Scott Pelley liked to complain about a “toxic” work environment.
Some insiders believe Bari Weiss is destroying CBS’s 60 Minutes to appease the Trump Administration and win favors with the FCC.
The gutting of CBS’s 60 Minutes will make it more likely that the FCC will approve the $111 billion Warner-Paramount deal that Larry and David Ellison are trying to close.
“Think globally, act locally.”
It is crucial to be forward-thinking but not a forward person. “Be kind to everyone you meet because each carries his heavy burden…” Plato.
Embrace the three Constants: change, justice, and rightness.
The thought police are busy at work trying to suppress free speech. If allowed their march to madness, they will arrest your very thoughts.
“Free speech, but not free reach.” — Social media titans.
Free speech is thy Lord.
