Paramount buys Free Press, Bari Weiss named CBS News editor in chief

Paramount announced on Monday that it has acquired The Free Press and named its founder, Bari Weiss, editor in chief of CBS News, a move that installs an external digital publisher atop the network’s news division and positions her to report directly to Paramount chief executive David Ellison. The deal was reported at roughly $150 million in a mix of cash and stock, though company statements did not disclose the precise breakdown or whether the price includes an earnout.

Paramount said The Free Press will continue to operate as an independent brand within the company and that Weiss will retain leadership of the publication while taking on responsibility for shaping editorial priorities, championing core values across platforms and leading innovation in how CBS News reports and distributes its journalism. Weiss will collaborate with CBS News president Tom Cibrowski; Cibrowski will remain in his current reporting line to George Cheeks, Paramount’s chair of TV Media.

In notes to staff, Ellison framed the move as part of a broader effort to modernize content and broaden the network’s audience, writing that Weiss’s “entrepreneurial drive and editorial vision will invigorate CBS...