Jewish Motherly Advice for Bari Weiss: Resign

I’m just old enough to be CBS News’ Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss’ mother. Thankfully, I’m not. I already raised three kind, brilliant, beautiful, gutsy, independent adult daughters who bring me much nachas (Yiddish for pride), and four kids is a lot. (Although Bari, 42, is the eldest of four daughters). Furthermore, after launching a promising journalism career as a fresh, centrist, pro-Israel Jewish voice writing for The Forward, Tablet, Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, Bari qualifies as a problem child per my feminist Jewish mother/independent journalist moral code. The chasm between her recent actions and professed Jewish and journalistic values yawns irreconcilably wide.

Veteran CBS journalist Scott Pelley accused Weiss of murdering “60 Minutes” – the vaunted broadcast newsmagazine that launched in 1968 and has provided hard-hitting journalistic sustenance for Boomers like me throughout six decades. She recently summarily fired “60 Minutes” correspondents Pelley, 68; Sharyn Alfonsi, 54; Cecilia Vega, 49; and Executive Producer Tanya Simon, 56. All assert she attempted to interfere with their stories for political reasons. Much-loved correspondent Anderson Cooper, 59, left the show of his own accord, expressing his hopes that “60 Minutes” remains “60 Minutes.” He spoke for generations of investigative journalism fans.

In Judaism, respect for elders ranks as a fundamental ethical duty rooted in the Torah. Weiss failed to demonstrate this reverence in her dismissal of senior “60 Minutes” staffers. Her behavioral failure troubles me more than her lack of prior broadcast journalism experience. Although, as my 31-year-old attorney daughter said, “She had a lot of chutzpah to take a job she’s not qualified for.” And indeed, Bari’s hubris has escalated since 2025, when she sold her online media company The Free Press for $150 million to Hollywood nepo-mogul head of Paramount Skydance Corp. David Ellison, 43, who then appointed her head of CBS News.

Bari’s burgeoning ego contradicts the Jewish value of anavah – the humility essential to living a virtuous life. I wonder if this aggressive egotism reflects her true nature or is a defensive reaction to her status as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Ellisons – David and his immensely powerful Oracle co-founder billionaire father Larry. The fact that Bari acts as the Ellisons’ hatchet woman at CBS offends my feminist sensibilities. She does the dirty work while David – a gaslighter extraordinaire who floats above the fray on his family’s billions – claims he isn’t making major changes at CBS News. He’s made similar statements about his plans for CNN, which will also be in Bari’s portfolio when/if his pending acquisition of CNN’s parent company Warner Bros. Discovery is finalized. Bari may soon be wielding the hatchet with renewed force at CNN. Oy, Bari!

She began as the brave voice calling out the excesses of cancel culture, antisemitism on the left and right, and the lack of common sense in woke groupthink. Now she’s David Ellison’s journalistic executioner. This contradicts the values her Free Press states on its webpage: “The Free Press is a new media company founded by Bari Weiss and built on the ideals that once were the bedrock of great American journalism: honesty, doggedness, and fierce independence.” When Bari made the $150 million sale, she lost her independence, especially while David Ellison strives to appease Trump and close his Paramount Skydance media conglomerate’s $111 billion deal to acquire Warner Bros.

When four experienced journalists at “60 Minutes” allege political interference in their stories, I see a pattern and tend to believe them. I wonder if Bari’s stated “Free Press” ideals versus the reality of what she’s done at “60 Minutes” create cognitive dissonance for her. Adding insult to injury, CBS News ratings have fallen under her tenure.

As a conscientious Jewish mother, I’m appealing to Bari’s better angels to a) admit she made a mistake buying into David Ellison’s Trump appeasement plan; and b) resign from CBS. Staying there while maintaining her brand of independence and honesty is not sustainable. She made a splashy resignation six years ago via a letter to her New York Times editor that went viral and established her street cred as a courageous free thinker. This letter remains on her personal website – a testament to her belief in independent journalism as fundamental to democracy.

Bari did it once, and she can do it again. She needs to hire a feisty employment lawyer, write a strongly worded letter, and post it on her website (which hopefully she still has control over). Only then will she be true to her Jewish values, her feminism, her journalistic independence and win back respect.

Admitting a mistake and moving on is a sign of middle-aged maturity. Time to woman up and walk the walk – the Ellisons’ billions be damned.