Dan Slightly slams CBS Information for hiring Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief

[ad_1] NEW Now you can hearken to Fox Information articles!

Former CBS Information anchor Dan Rather criticized CBS Information on Thursday for making journalist Bari Weiss its editor-in-chief, in addition to buying her unbiased information outlet, "The Free Press."

Slightly, age 93, argued on his Substack web page that the hiring of the anti-woke reporter, in addition to CBS coming underneath the management of billionaire David Ellison – whose father is a pal of President Donald Trump – meant that CBS Information can be catering to the Trump agenda.

"The American folks pays the value for this transfer, as will the journalists of CBS Information who can now not credibly function watchdogs as a result of those they're meant to carry to account are signing their paychecks and hobnobbing with the president," the veteran journalist wrote .

At one level, he warned, "It's a darkish day within the halls of CBS Information."

FCC APPROVES PARAMOUNT-SKYDANCE MERGER FOLLOWING TRUMP SETTLEMENT, COLBERT CANCELLATION

Former CBS Information anchor Dan Slightly criticized his previous community for hiring unbiased journalist Bari Weiss as its new editor-in-chief. (Craig Barritt/Getty)

CBS’ mum or dad firm, Paramount, named Weiss the editor-in-chief of CBS Information on Monday following the corporate’s acquisition of "The Free Press" for $150 million. The move angered liberal journalists and media figures, as Weiss’ outlet has made waves for difficult DEI, gender ideology, and supporting Israel.

Slightly questioned Weiss’ credentials.

"The previous opinion author for The Wall Road Journal and The New York Instances just isn't a reporter. She has by no means labored in tv information and he or she has by no means led a workers bigger than a couple of dozen," Slightly wrote. "That each one modified this week when David Ellison, whose Skydance Media not too long ago acquired CBS, put in Weiss ready created for her. She won't report back to the president of CBS Information — as one may anticipate — however to David Ellison immediately."

BARI WEISS JOINS CBS NEWS AS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, PARAMOUNT BUYS FREE PRESS FOR $150 MILLION

The previous CBS anchor additionally addressed Weiss’ current assertion that she needs to fight illiberalism on each the appropriate and left in her new position, criticizing her for going after each side when one aspect has Trump.

"Whereas one should preserve an open thoughts, it's exhausting to take action when such an announcement portends a push for ‘bothsidesism’ and arguments reliant on false equivalences. There will be no equivalences drawn between the 2 political extremes on this nation, particularly when one excessive is led by a person who not often speaks with out mendacity."

Weiss’ hiring comes months after Paramount’s merger with Skydance that resulted in Ellison, the previous Skydance CEO, being named CEO of the brand new joint firm. Along with being near Trump, Ellison’s father, Larry, is a pro-Israel tech mogul value round $300 billion.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST MEDIA AND CULTURE NEWS

New Paramount proprietor David Ellison agreed to a cope with Bari Weiss and The Free Press. (Charly Triballeau/AFP by way of Getty Photos; James Leynse/Corbis by way of Getty Photos; Noam Galai/Getty Photos for The Free Press)

Slightly continued, saying that the deal and hiring of Weiss are "indicators to everybody, particularly to the person within the Oval Workplace, that CBS is now not unbiased, however underneath the tutelage of a conservative billionaire who's placing greater than his thumb on the dimensions."

"Something that runs afoul of Trump’s agenda could also be flagged and is unlikely to be aired unaltered, if aired in any respect. No journalist or their work can stay unaffected by toiling in such an surroundings," he mentioned.

"It's a darkish day within the halls of CBS Information, the place the portraits of tv information pioneers as soon as hung — Cronkite, Murrow, Sevareid, Collingwood. They had been journalists who made tv a trusted supply of data. Whom and what are we to imagine in the present day?" Slightly requested.

Slightly stepped down from his position as "CBS Night Information" anchor in 2005 and left the community the next yr after reporting a discredited story about then-President George W. Bush.