Bari Weiss, the editor-in-chief of CBS News, is increasingly hiring British journalists as she seeks to challenge what she perceives as a 'woke' consensus in US media. Since her high-profile resignation from the New York Times in 2020, Weiss has built a reputation as a media disruptor. Her tenure at CBS News, which began eight months ago, has faced internal and external opposition.
Recent hires include Trevor Phillips, a British broadcaster and former Labour party member, as senior global affairs correspondent, and Josh Boswell, an investigative reporter from the Daily Mail. Weiss has also enlisted British conservative writer Douglas Murray to write a weekly column for the Free Press, the outlet she founded after leaving the New York Times. Additionally, she has met with BBC Today programme presenter Justin Webb, though no specific role was discussed.
According to sources familiar with Weiss's thinking, the hires are deliberate. Andrew Neil, former editor of the Sunday Times, said: 'She’s been looking at various Brits that might add a bit of opinion/attitude diversity to US media, instead of the dominant, predictable Columbia Journalism School uniformity.' A CBS News source added: 'They do the kind of things that Bari is looking for; it’s not puff pieces and kid gloves.'
Weiss has cultivated a network of UK thinkers who share her scepticism of what she views as an overly 'woke' consensus on topics such as Israel and transgender issues. Last summer, she hosted a party at London's Groucho Club, mingling with figures described as 'part of the heterodox world'. One attendee noted: 'In the US, the political divides between left and right are very black and white in the media. Here, things are a bit more grey.'
Her allies include conservative writer Douglas Murray, JK Rowling's agent Neil Blair, and former Conservative minister Michael Gove. The Free Press's deputy editor is Oliver Wiseman, formerly of the Spectator. However, the network also includes libertarian podcaster Konstantin Kisin, who controversially argued that former prime minister Rishi Sunak was not English due to his 'brown Hindu' background. One ally also noted that British journalists are generally cheaper than their US counterparts.
