Paramount Skydance’s CBS News has seen a considerable amount of changes in recent months, with much of that being due to the installation of Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief. Further change could be on the way for the brand as well due to Paramount’s proposed merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. Should that arrangement be finalized, Paramount would have control of CNN as well as other entities. There’s, of course, the question of whether Weiss would run that network too, and sources are speaking out about that.
With Weiss currently running CBS’ news branch, it may almost seem like a given that she’d be tasked with running CNN if it does officially come into the corporate fold. Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison has yet to reveal his plans for CNN, though it’s been alleged that he’s still deciding whether he’ll put Weiss in charge of that operation. As noted by The New York Times, the Ted Turner-co-founded network is much larger than the brand Weiss is running now, and it stands to generate even more revenue.
It’s also said that one course of action would be to have Weiss – who hadn’t worked in broadcast news before joining the Eye Network – to work in tandem with a more experienced executive. Said comments come from two sources who are allegedly in the know regarding internal comments, and they also say a second exec would handle the network’s financial and technical matters.
Something that also reportedly remains unclear is how CNN’s chief executive, Mark Thompson, will figure into the company after the merger. Nevertheless, Thompson allegedly told top execs that he was not keen on splitting oversight of the brand with another person. That report should be taken with a grain of salt, though, as Thompson has not publicly discussed the matter, as of this writing.
All the while, employees at WBD-owned brands and Paramount have purportedly been bracing for a “blood bath” due to the impending merger. The consolidation of both companies is expected to lead to significant layoffs across different sectors of both companies. Said job eliminations could also (theoretically) seep into Warner’s aforementioned news brand as well. There’s also the matter of what kind of editorial direction Weiss would take the company in and, thus far, her decisions have been met with mixed-to-negative responses.
Bari Weiss drew significant backlash in late 2025 for several of her editorial-based moves, including her decision to initiate a town hall featuring Erika Kirk, the widow of late political activist Charlie Kirk. Also, Weiss caught flak for her last-minute decision to drop a 60 Minutes story about the Trump Administration reportedly deporting migrants to a prison in El Salvador. Weiss defended her decision to cut the story, arguing that more reporting needed to be done before it could be run.
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The decision to drop the 60 story furthered the notion that Weiss and co. were exemplifying media bias, and accusations are still being made on that front. Former 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley, who was fired by Weiss this past June, has been vocal about his issues with CBS News’ current leadership. Before he was let go, Pelley also had a heated discussion with the news magazine show’s new executive producer, Nick Bilton, during which he accused Weiss of “murdering” the show. Other series alums have also made claims about editorial bias like former EP Bill Owens and ex-host Steve Kroft.
When it comes to the Paramount/Warner Bros. merger, it’s been approved by the Antitrust Division of the United States Justice Department. The UK government, however, has since expressed its intention to take action amid the corporate takeover attempt. So, with that, it’s unclear as to when CNN will fully be folded into Paramount. These latest claims, however, suggest that whenever that happens, Bari Weiss – who reportedly has David Ellison’s support – could become a major player within CNN down the road.
